A new bill would continue eligibility of Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) benefits to people who had previously been approved for leave benefits and then suffered a family loss.
Under the current law, PFML benefits can only be paid out to employees that are undergoing a “qualifying event” of some kind, for example recovery from childbirth, bonding with a new child, taking time off to care for a sick family member,
or an employee recovering from their own illness. For a new parent, the “qualifying event” can end abruptly if their child dies shortly following childbirth or is stillborn, causing grieving parents to lose their PFML benefits during that
tragic time. Similarly, an employee that is taking medical leave to care for a sick family member can also lose their eligibility for benefits if the family member dies, ending the “qualifying event.”
SB 5649, sponsored by Sen. June Robinson (D–Everett), would protect families against this result by allowing employees that had
previously been approved for medical leave benefits under PFML to continue receiving leave benefits for up to 14 days following the postnatal death or stillbirth of their child or the death of the family member that the employee had taken leave (or
would have qualified for leave) to care for. For families grieving the postnatal or stillbirth loss of a child, the bill also requires that the extended leave be considered medical leave unless the employee chooses to use family leave instead. Medical
leave benefits are paid for by premiums from both employers and employees, where family leave benefits are only funded by employee premiums.
The bill makes other changes to the PFML law, including:
- Requiring all collective bargaining agreements to be subject to the PFML law by December 31, 2023;
- Permitting employees to ask the Employment Security Department (ESD) for a predetermination of their leave application up to 45 days prior to a planned qualifying event. This would shorten processing time and allow benefits to be paid out once the
employee certifies that the qualifying event has occurred; and
- Requiring ESD to publish a list of all employers that have approved voluntary plans.
Dates to remember
SB 5649 is scheduled for a public hearing in the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on Thursday, January 13 at 8 am.