New information about wage filing for Paid Family and Medical Leave

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New wage filing and reporting info for Q1 Paid Family & Medical Leave


Image depicts Paid Family and Medical Leave wordmark

This is the first email in a series designed to help employer agents prepare for the first Paid Family and Medical Leave wage filing and premium payments. If you file reports or make payments to the State of Washington on behalf of businesses with employees working in Washington, please continue reading for important information.

For more information now, visit paidleave.wa.gov/employers.

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of the email.


Do you file reports or make payments to the State of Washington on behalf of businesses? Then keep reading!


About Paid Family & Medical Leave

Washington’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave program is an essential benefit that will ensure every eligible employee in Washington can take paid time to care for themselves or a loved one through serious illness or injury, to bond with a child coming into the family through birth adoption or foster placement, and for certain military-connected events. Premium collection started for businesses of all sizes on Jan. 1, 2019. Benefits are available starting Jan. 1, 2020.

For more information about the program, reporting requirements and calculating premiums, download the Employer Toolkit.


Action to take to prepare for reporting

Test your wage reporting file format

You will have three options for submitting Paid Family and Medical Leave reports online:

  • Manual entry for each individual employee (up to 50 employees).
  • Single employer filing using a .CSV (Excel or similar) file upload.
  • Bulk/multiple employer filing using an ICESA file.

The bulk filing specifications for Paid Family and Medical Leave are different from those of other Washington state agencies, so we recommend employer agents test their file formats ahead of time, using the links below. The test process is not secure. Please do not upload real company data and identifying information. Paid Family and Medical Leave is not liable for any data leaks from this test.

Detailed instructions on creating and uploading a test file are now available on the test site:


Coming soon

Future emails in this series will include:

  • The power of attorney process for Paid Family and Medical Leave. To file reports and pay premiums on behalf of your clients, you will need to complete and submit (via upload) a Paid Family and Medical Leave power of attorney (POA) form. It will be posted on our website and we will email it to you as soon as possible.

TIP: You will need a Paid Family and Medical Leave POA even if you have an active POA on file with Unemployment Insurance. While both programs are administered by ESD, the requirements are separate.

  • Establishing your initial Paid Family and Medical Leave employer or employer agent account. When the account management system is live, you will create either an employer account (acting on behalf of only your business) or an employer agent account (acting on behalf of other businesses).
  • Account verification. PIN verification may be required to gain full access to your Paid Family and Medical Leave account once it has been initially created. This is to ensure your account was created by someone authorized to operate on behalf of your business. Details about this process are coming soon.

Employer agent webinar

Sign up for an online information session tailored to employer agents.

 


Have questions?

Contact us: paidleave.wa.gov │  paidleave@esd.wa.gov  │  833-717-2273

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