Human Resource Blog

FMLA in Washington

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Which of our employees are covered by the FMLA in Washington?

The Family and Medical Leave Act applies to many employees across the state of Washington. As long as an employee qualifies for coverage and the employer is covered, the employee should be able to take up to 12 weeks off of work each year in order to tend to qualifying medical conditions that related to themselves or covered family members.

After an employee takes the FMLA time off, the employer cannot discriminate against the employee for having taken the time off. Also, the employer must ensure that the employee can come to work after the period of time off to have the same job or an equivalent job as the one that he or she left behind.

Employees that wish to take FMLA time off need to have worked for a covered company for at least 1,250 hours out of the previous year. A company is covered by the MLA as long as it has at least 50 employees that work within a 75-mile radius of the employee that wishes to take the FMLA time off.

When an employee wishes to take the FMLA time off, the employee should take it for one of the following qualifying reasons:

·         To care for their own health

·         To care for the health of a parent, as long as the parent is a biological parent and not an in-law. Also, the employee needs to be at least 18 years old in order to take time off to care for a parent

·         To care for a child, as long as the child is under the age of 18

·         To care for a newborn child, a child that has recently been adopted, or a child that has recently been taken in through foster care.  Both male and female employees can take time off for this condition. CB