Washington state recently enacted a slew of laws that will impact employers across the state. Most of the new laws expand protections for employees, but some offer relief to employers as they adjust to new requirements. Washington employers should be aware of changes to leave requirements, new layoff restrictions, new workplace accommodation requirements, expansion of employee access to personnel files, updates to meal and rest break requirements for hospitals, and updated requirements related to job postings and applicant criminal records.
Effective January 1, 2026, HB 1213 amends Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (WA PFML) law to expand job protection and close a loophole that currently allows employees to stack leave.
Highlights from the amended law that employers should know:
Shortens Service Requirement for Job-Protected Leave
In order to take job-protected leave, employees now only need to be employed for 180 days prior to the start of leave. Previously, employees were required to perform 1,250 hours of work within the 12 months prior to the start of leave in order to take protected leave.
Closes Leave Stacking Loophole
Employers may count leave taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) toward an employee’s WA PFML benefit even when employees do not apply for it. However, employers must give written notice to employees within five business days of the earlier of either an employee’s request for leave or use of leave. The bill includes a phased approach to implementation of this change based on employer size.
Employees May Forfeit Right to Reinstatement
Employees now risk forfeiting their right to reinstatement unless they affirmatively exercise the right upon the earlier of the first scheduled workday at the end of WA PFML or the first scheduled workday following unpaid FMLA leave where the employee was eligible for WA PFML but did not apply for it.
Employers Must Notify Employees Regarding Potential Forfeiture of Right to Reinstatement
For continuous periods of leave of more than two typical workweeks or any combined intermittent leave of more than 14 combined workdays, employers must give written notice of the estimated expiration of the right to employment restoration and of the employee’s first scheduled workday.
Reduced Claim Duration
The bill lowers the minimum hours an employee must claim under WA PFML from eight hours to four hours. So, employees will now be able to use WA PFML to cover shorter absences than previously.
Expanded Benefits Continuation
Subject to some exceptions, employers must now provide health insurance continuation for any period of WA PFML, regardless of whether WA PFML is used concurrently with FMLA. Previously, the health benefit continuation requirement was contingent on the concurrent use of FMLA.
Notice and Poster Requirements
The bill specifies that notices to employees must include eligibility requirements, possible weekly benefits, application processes, employment protection rights, nondiscrimination rights, and other protections, as well as information pertaining to the filing of a complaint.
Updated Grants for Small Employers
The revised law allows small employers to apply for grants up to $3,000, increasing the grant amount available to small employers who incur significant costs for shorter term leaves. Notably, employers may receive no more than one grant for each employee on leave and a total of 10 grants per calendar year. Employers receiving these grants will be assessed premiums for three years from the date of receipt of the grant.
Effective July 27, 2025, SB 5525 makes Washington the latest state to adopt a mini-Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WA WARN) requiring employers with 50 or more full-time employees to give 60 days of advance notice to employees, unions, and the state for certain mass layoffs and business closures.
Highlights from the amended law that employers should know:
Employees on WA PFML Cannot Be Included in a Mass Layoff
Employees on PFML leave cannot be included in a mass layoff (50+ employees anywhere in Washington during any 30-day period), unless one of the following exceptions applies:
Required Notice to Employees and the State Government Must Identify Affected Employees by Name
In addition, the required notice to the Washington Employment Security Department (WA ESD) must also include the addresses of the affected employees.
Business Closing Definition Broader Than Federal WARN
Unlike federal WARN, the definition of a business closing under WA WARN is not limited to employment losses within a 30-day or 90-day period. Under WA WARN, a “business closing” means “the permanent or temporary shutdown of a single site of employment of one or more facilities or operating units that will result in an employment loss for 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees.”
Mass Layoff Definition Broader Than Federal WARN
Unlike federal WARN, mass layoffs under WA WARN are not limited to a single site of employment. So, a mass layoff would include the termination of 50 or more employees statewide within a 30-day period.
Further, there is no requirement under WA WARN for the layoff to affect a minimum percentage of the workforce. This is different from the federal WARN, where a mass layoff is defined as an employment loss at a single site of employment during any 30-day period for either: (1) at least 33% of full-time active employees and at least 50 employees or (2) 500 or more employees are affected.
No Notice Requirement to Chief Elected Official
Under the federal WARN, WA WARN does not require that employers send notice to the chief elected official. Instead, employers just need to notify unrepresented employees, unions, and the WA ESD.
Different Exceptions to WA WARN Than Federal WARN
Unlike the federal WARN, employers are not required to give notice if an exception applies for the entire 60-day notice window.
Under WA WARN, employers are not required to give notice if any of the following exceptions apply:
Unlike the federal WARN, the faltering company exception applies to both mass layoffs and business closings.
Effective January 1, 2026, SB 5101 amends Washington’s Domestic Violence Leave Law to give the same protections currently available to victims or family members of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking to victims of hate crimes. The amended law allows victims of hate crimes to take a reasonable amount of paid or unpaid leave to seek treatment, counseling, social services, or law enforcement or legal assistance. It also protects against retaliation, whether related to actual or perceived victim status.
Notably, because the Washington Minimum Wage Act references the Domestic Violence Leave Law to determine who may take paid sick leave, the amended law also functionally expands the reasons employees can use paid sick time to include hate crime-related leave.
A hate crime is defined as an assault on a person or their property because of the offender’s perception of the victim’s race, skin color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability. Victims of online and internet-based offenses are also protected under the amended law.
Effective January 1, 2027, SB 5217 requires that lactation breaks must be paid, including time spent traveling to and from lactation locations. These breaks must be separate from and in addition to regular meal and rest breaks. Reasonable accommodations for pregnancy now include flexibility for scheduling postpartum medical visits in addition to prenatal visits covered under current law.
One significant change is the expansion of the employers covered by these requirements. SB 5217 expands coverage from employers with 15 or more employers to all employers with one or more employees.
The amended law also establishes a private right of action.
Effective July 27, 2025, HB 1308 expands employee access to their personnel files by clarifying requirements for employers and granting new rights to employees.
Key updates include:
Employers that do move call centers to foreign countries will be placed on an ESD list distributed to all state agencies and become ineligible for state grants for five years. Additionally, state agency contracts made after the effective date of this bill for purchases of call center services, except for interpreter services, must provide that the work performed by the contractor, its agents, or subcontractors be performed entirely within the United States.
Employers are covered by the act if they have 50 or more full-time employees or 50 or more workers who, together, work at least 1,500 hours per week, excluding overtime.
Effective July 27, 2025, HB 1875 allows employees to use paid sick leave for absences related to immigration proceedings, including proceedings involving the employee or a family member. Employers must accept verification documentation from an advocate, attorney, clergy member, or other professional, or an employee’s written letter stating that the employee or their family member is involving in a qualifying proceeding. Any verification document cannot include personally identifiable information about the person’s immigration status or underlying immigration protection.
Effective July 1, 2026, HB 1747 expands Washington’s fair chance requirements. The prior law prevented employers from asking about applicant criminal records unless the employer initially determined an applicant was otherwise qualified. The amended law prohibits employers from obtaining information about an applicant’s criminal record unless the employer has extended a conditional offer of employment.
Effective July 27, 2025, SB 5501 adds a new section to the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, limiting when employers can include the requirement for a valid driver’s license on a job posting. Employers may only require a valid driver’s license on a job posting if driving is an essential function of the position or related to a legitimate business purpose.
Effective January 1, 2026, HB 1524 amends the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) to add new safety standards for isolated employees.
Isolated Employee Defined
The amended law clarifies the definition of “isolated employee” to mean an employee who (1) performs work in an area where two or more coworkers, supervisors, or a combination thereof are unable to immediately respond to an emergency without being summoned by the employee or (2) spends at least 50% of her or his working hours without a supervisor or another coworker present and is employed as a janitor, security guard, hotel or motel housekeeper, or room service attendant.
Panic Button Requirements
Panic button requirements are updated to specify that they need to be able to help responders immediately locate the employee using the button and must be simple to use.
Training and Reporting Requirements
Employers must document completion of mandatory training and provide this documentation to the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries upon request.
Effective July 27, 2025, SB 5408 amends the Equal Pay and Opportunity Act to clarify provisions regarding the required substance of job posting requirements and potential statutory damages awards, and to entitle employers to notice and an opportunity to correct any job posting before being subjected to penalties.
Effective January 1, 2026, HB 1162 expands on the workplace violence prevention law previously passed in 2019 to require more regular and detailed reviews of workplace violence incidents in healthcare settings, including new reporting requirements and regular updates to safety plans.
Effective July 1, 2026, HB 1332 requires ride-share companies (“transportation network companies”) to provide downloadable and searchable summary records of a driver’s per-trip receipts within three days of a driver’s request for the information. Per-trip and weekly receipt summary requirements are also updated to require information about what financial incentives, promotions, or bonuses apply to those trips.
Ride-share providers must also make information available to its drivers on which vehicles, described by make, model, and year, are eligible for each product class offered on its platform. Platforms must give drivers notice of at least 120 days if they plan to modify product classes.
Effective January 1, 2026, HB 1879 allows hospitals and employees to voluntarily agree to waive the following meal and rest break requirements:
Waivers must be agreed upon in advance of the first shift where a break is waived, and the waiver may be revoked at any time by either the employer or employee. Waiver agreements are required to be in writing or another electronic recordkeeping format.
These new laws continue to expand employee protections in Washington state. Employers should take the following steps to meet their current obligations and prepare for the laws that will soon go into effect: