Washington Administrative Code

(1) In all determinations, cases, and appeals adjudicated under Title 50A RCW the employment security department is an "interested party."(2) Other interested parties in paid family or medical leave determinations related to the state plan, complaints under chapter 50A.40 RCW, an…

An "aggrieved party" is any interested party who receives an adverse decision from:(1) The department for which the department has provided notice of appeal;(2) The employer with an approved voluntary plan for which that employer has provided notice of appeal;(3) The office of ad…

A "de facto parent" is limited to those adults who have fully and completely undertaken a permanent, unequivocal, committed, and responsible parental role in a child's life where the natural or legal parent consented to and fostered the parent-like relationship.[Statutory Authori…

An individual stands "in loco parentis" when the individual acts in place of a parent, intentionally takes over parental duties, and is responsible for exercising day-to-day care and control fulfilling the child's physical and psychological needs.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50A.04.…

(1) A "claim year" is the period beginning Sunday of the week of the date an eligible employee files a complete initial application for benefits and ending the Saturday fifty-two weeks later.(2) The entitlement to family leave benefits for the birth or placement of a child expire…

A "qualifying event" is:(1) For family leave, events described in RCW 50A.05.010 and related rules.(2) For medical leave, events described in RCW 50A.05.010 and related rules.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50A.05.060. WSR 20-20-073, § 192-500-080, filed 10/2/20, effective 11/2/20. Sta…

"Health care provider" means:(1) A physician or an osteopathic physician who is licensed to practice medicine or surgery, as appropriate, by the state in which the physician practices;(2) Nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, midwives, clinical social workers, physician assistants…

(1) A "salaried employee" is any employee who receives a fixed periodic compensation from an employer to be paid for hours worked full-time as defined by the employer.(2) Employees that work less than full-time as defined by the employer are not considered a salaried employee for…

A "week" is a period of seven consecutive calendar days beginning on Sunday 12:00 a.m. and ending at 11:59 p.m. the following Saturday.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50A.04.215. WSR 19-13-001, § 192-500-110, filed 6/5/19, effective 7/6/19.]

(1) "Fraud" means an action taken by an employee where either of the following is determined to have occurred:(a) Willful nondisclosure as defined in WAC 192-500-140; or(b) Misrepresentation as defined in WAC 192-500-150.(2) A finding of fraud will result in a disqualification of…

"Nondisclosure" occurs when information that is known or should have been known by the employee at the time it is requested by the department, is not disclosed either inadvertently or through unintentional oversight.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50A.04.215. WSR 19-13-001, § 192-500-1…

"Willful nondisclosure" occurs when:(1) An employee omits or fails to disclose information;(2) The employee either knew or should have known that the information should have been provided;(3) The information concerned a fact that was material to the employee's rights and responsi…

"Misrepresentation" occurs when:(1) The employee has made a statement or provided information;(2) The statement was false;(3) The employee either knew or should have known the statement or information was false when making or submitting it;(4) The statement or submission concerne…

(1) An employee is a "continued claim" recipient if the employee:(a) Is eligible for benefits; and(b) Has received credit for the waiting period or payment of benefits for one or more weeks in a claim year and in the current continued claim series.(2) Continued claim status will …

(1) A "self-employed" person is:(a) A sole proprietor;(b) A joint venturer or a member of a partnership that carries on a trade or business, contributes money, property, labor or skill and shares in the profits or losses of the business;(c) A member of a limited liability company…

(1) A "supplemental benefit payment" is a payment offered by an employer to an employee who is taking leave under Title 50A RCW.(2) Employers may, but are not required to, designate certain benefits including, but not limited to, salary continuation, vacation leave, sick leave, o…

(1) A "waiting period" is the first seven consecutive calendar days beginning with the Sunday of the first week an eligible employee starts taking paid family or medical leave.(2) An employee will satisfy the waiting period requirement if the employee takes at least four consecut…

"Sibling" means an individual who shares at least one parent, as defined by RCW 50A.05.010, with another individual.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50A.05.060. WSR 21-04-067, § 192-500-190, filed 1/29/21, effective 3/1/21; WSR 20-11-033, § 192-500-190, filed 5/14/20, effective 6/14/20.…

(1) For the purposes of qualifying for paid family leave to bond with a child under RCW 50A.05.010, "placement" means the adoptive, guardianship, foster care, nonparental custody placement, or legal adoption of a child under the age of 18 with the employee. A placement is conside…

(1) Self-employed persons as defined in RCW 50A.10.010 and federally recognized tribes as defined in RCW 50A.10.020 may elect coverage under Title 50A RCW.(2) Notice of election of coverage must be submitted to the department online or in another format approved by the department…

(1) Federally recognized tribes electing coverage are employers as defined in RCW 50A.05.010 and are subject to all rights and responsibilities under Title 50A RCW.(2) Employees of federally recognized tribes that elect coverage are employees as defined in RCW 50A.05.010 and are …

(1) Examples of wages reportable to the department for premium assessment purposes include, but are not limited to:(a) Salary or hourly wages;(b) Cash value of goods or services given in the place of money;(c) Commissions or piecework;(d) Bonuses;(e) Cash value of gifts or prizes…

(1) The department will use the self-employed person's wages reported in a quarter and divide it by the state's minimum wage to presume the number of hours worked for the quarter being reported.(2) The self-employed person may overcome the presumption of hours in subsection (1) o…

Each quarter, a self-employed individual who has elected coverage under Title 50A RCW will report to the department wages equal to the combined total of:(1) The self-employed individual's net income related to their self-employment; and(2) The gross amount of wages, if any, as de…

(1) To assess premiums and determine eligibility for small business assistance grants, the department must determine the size of each applicable employer. The department will determine the size of each employer as provided in RCW 50A.10.030. The department will only count the num…

(1) For the purposes of premium assessment for calendar year 2019, the department will determine the size of all employers by reviewing the number of employees reported pursuant to WAC 192-540-030 for the first calendar quarter. Employers that report fifty or more employees will …

An employer that has not been in business in Washington long enough to report four calendar quarters by September 30th will have its size calculated after the second quarter of reporting is due by averaging the number of employees reported over the quarters for which reporting ex…

(1) Premiums must be paid quarterly. Each payment must include the premiums owed on all wages subject to premiums during that calendar quarter. Payments are due to the department by the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter for which premiums are being p…

(1) An employer may not deduct more than the maximum allowable employee share of the premium from wages paid for a pay period.(2) If an employer fails to deduct the maximum allowable employee share of the premium from wages paid for a pay period, the employer is considered to hav…

(1) A payment received with a premium assessment will be applied to the quarter for which the premium assessment applies. A payment exceeding the legal fees, penalties, interest and premiums due for that quarter will be applied to any other debt as provided in subsection (4) of t…

(1) An employee's work is subject to all reporting requirements and premiums when the work is localized in Washington. An employee's work is considered localized in Washington when:(a) All of the employee's work is performed entirely within Washington; or(b) Most of the employee'…

(1) An employer and employee may be eligible for a conditional waiver of premium payments by satisfying the requirements of RCW 50A.10.040.Example: A storm hits Washington. An employer in Oregon hires a new employee who lives in Oregon to help with repair work. The employee only …

(1) If an employee who is exempt from premiums under a conditional waiver works eight hundred twenty hours in any period of four consecutive quarters, the waiver will be determined to have expired.(2) Upon expiration of a conditional premium waiver, the department will assess and…

(1) For calendar years 2021, 2022, and 2023, the total premium rate shall be based on the family and medical leave insurance account balance ratio as of September 30th of the previous year.(a) The commissioner shall calculate the account balance ratio by dividing the balance of t…

For the purposes of premium rate calculation under RCW 50A.10.030(6), any benefit moneys that have been paid to employees, but have not yet been reimbursed pursuant to section 4, chapter 232, Laws of 2021 (SB 5097), will be included in the balance of the family and medical leave …

The following definitions are applicable under this chapter.(1) "Compensation" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 49.46.300.(2) "Department" means the employment security department.(3) "Digital network" has the same meaning as defined in RCW 49.46.300.(4) "Pilot program" ref…

(1) Notice of election of coverage must be submitted to the department online or in another format approved by the department. Either the department or the third party if designated by a driver, may inform transportation network companies of a driver's election of coverage into t…

(1) By the 15th day of the month following the end of a calendar quarter, transportation network companies must report to each driver in Washington who opted into the pilot program, and to the driver's third-party representative when so designated by a driver, the total amount of…

As described in RCW 46.72B.200, a driver who opts into the pilot program is subject to the rights and responsibilities as they apply to self-employed individuals who elect coverage under Titles 50A RCW and 192 WAC, except for the period of coverage requirements described under RC…

(1) Parties to a collective bargaining agreement in existence on October 19, 2017, are not required to be subject to the rights and responsibilities under Title 50A RCW and related rules unless and until the existing agreement is reopened or renegotiated by the parties or expires…

(1) A voluntary plan application must be submitted to the department online or in another format approved by the department. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. Voluntary plan application fees are due at the time the application is submitted to the department. The fee i…

(1) An employer's voluntary plan must:(a) Allow the employee to take at least the same duration of leave from work as the state plan;(b) Pay at least equivalent total monetary benefits as the state plan;(c) Not withhold an amount from an employee's wages that is higher than what …

(1) To qualify for an employer's approved voluntary plan, an employee must have been:(a) In employment for at least eight hundred twenty hours during the qualifying period and in employment with that employer for at least three hundred forty hours; or(b) Covered by an approved vo…

An employer with an approved voluntary plan must send the first benefit payment to the employee within thirty calendar days of the first day of leave, or the receipt of a properly completed application for benefits, whichever is later. Subsequent payments must be sent on the esta…

(1) The department will provide a notice that meets the requirements of RCW 50A.20.020 to employers with approved voluntary plans if requested.(2) Employers may create their own notices that meet the requirements of RCW 50A.20.020. Each employer must provide a copy of its volunta…

(1) Employees cannot collect benefits from both the state plan and an approved voluntary plan for the same period. To ensure compliance, employers with an approved voluntary plan must report:(a) All information required of employers by the state plan; and(b) Weekly benefit and le…

(1) An approved voluntary plan ends when either the employer withdraws the plan or the agency terminates the plan for good cause. When a voluntary plan ends either through termination or withdrawal the following requirements must be satisfied:(a) Benefits and benefit eligibility …

The department may terminate a voluntary plan if there is a risk that benefits will not be paid or for other good cause shown. Good cause for terminating a voluntary plan includes, but is not limited to, an employer's failure to:(1) Pay timely and accurate paid family or medical …

Employers are permitted, with express written agreement from the employee, to make deductions from voluntary plan benefit payments including, but not limited to, health insurance premium payments, retirement contributions, applicable federal taxes, or other purposes, unless prohi…

(1) Employers must provide a written notice of employee rights to any employee when an employer becomes aware that the employee is taking family leave, medical leave, or a combination of both for a duration of more than seven consecutive days of work. The employer must use a noti…