Washington Administrative Code

Agencies must maintain records which contain sufficient information to provide for any state review.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 05-08-139, § 357-31-455, filed 4/6/05, effective 7/1/05.]

(1) Employers must grant parental leave to employees for purposes of:(a) The birth and care of a newborn child of the employee; or(b) Placement of a minor/dependent child with the employee for adoption or foster care.(2) Parental leave must be taken during the first year followin…

Only permanent employees or employees who have worked for the state for at least twelve months and for at least one thousand two hundred fifty hours during the previous twelve-month period qualify for parental leave.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 05-08-140, § 357-31…

The employee must submit a written request for parental leave in accordance with the employer's leave policy. The employee must provide not less than thirty days' notice, except when a child's birth or placement requires leave to begin in less than thirty days, in which case the …

Employees are entitled to request six months of parental leave for the purposes specified WAC 357-31-460. Employers may only deny requests for that portion of the parental leave that exceeds the provisions of WAC 357-31-525. The only basis for denial is operational necessity. Emp…

Consistent with RCW 50A.15.110, parental leave under Title 50A RCW and the family leave required by the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (Act Feb. 5, 1993, P.L. 103-3, 107 Stat. 6) must be in addition to any leave for sickness or temporary disability because of pregna…

If the employee's parental leave request is for time off which exceeds the provisions of WAC 357-31-525, the employer must respond in writing to the employee's request within ten working days of the receipt of the request. If the leave is denied, the employer must provide a ratio…

(1) Parental leave may be a combination of vacation leave, personal holiday, compensatory time, holiday credit, shared leave and leave of absence without pay. Sick leave may be used if the criteria in WAC 357-31-130 and 357-31-133 are met. The combination and use of paid and unpa…

Employers may designate a total of twelve work weeks of accrued paid leave or leave without pay for purposes of parental leave as family and medical leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. These twelve weeks are in addition to any paid or unpaid leave the employee is eligib…

Leave of absence must be granted for the period of time that an employee is sick or temporarily disabled because of pregnancy and/or childbirth. [Statutory Authority: RCW 41.06.133 and 41.06.150. WSR 23-24-022, § 357-31-500, filed 11/28/23, effective 1/1/24. Statutory Authority: …

The employee must submit a written request for disability leave due to pregnancy and/or childbirth in accordance with the employer's leave policy.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 05-08-140, § 357-31-505, filed 4/6/05, effective 7/1/05.]

In accordance with the employer's leave policy, the employee may be required to submit medical certification or verification for the period of disability leave due to pregnancy and/or childbirth. [Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 05-08-140, § 357-31-510, filed 4/6/05, …

Disability leave due to pregnancy and/or childbirth may be a combination of sick leave, vacation leave, personal holiday, compensatory time, holiday credit, shared leave and leave without pay. The combination and use of paid and unpaid leave must be per the choice of the employee…

Benefits provided through state laws and civil service rules must not be diminished or withheld in complying with the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 or the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Act.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW and RCW 50A.15.060. WSR 20-06-008…

(1) The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 (29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) and its implementing rules, 29 C.F.R. Part 825, and additional amendments and subsequent regulations provide that an eligible employee must be granted, during a twelve-month period, a total of twelve wor…

In accordance with 29 C.F.R. Part 825, an eligible employee is an employee who has worked for the state for at least 12 months and for at least 1,250 hours during the previous 12-month period. Paid time off such as vacation leave, sick leave, personal holiday, compensatory time o…

The employer designates absences which meet the criteria of the Family and Medical Leave Act. Paid or unpaid leave used for that designated absence must be counted towards the twelve weeks of the Family and Medical Leave Act entitlement.Because the Family and Medical Leave Act of…

The employee may choose to use appropriate accrued paid leave or leave without pay for absence granted in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act. Use of accrued paid leave and leave without pay must be in accordance with the civil service rules.[Statutory Authority: Cha…

Employee absence granted for the purpose of WAC 357-31-525 (1)(a) and (b) must be granted on an intermittent or reduced schedule at the employee's request when medically necessary. Employee absence granted for the purpose of WAC 357-31-525(2) must also be granted on an intermitte…

Following absence designated as FMLA the employee must be returned to the same or equivalent position held prior to the absence.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 05-08-140, § 357-31-550, filed 4/6/05, effective 7/1/05.]

The employer must continue an eligible employee's existing employer-paid health insurance benefits during paid or unpaid leave granted in accordance with the Family and Medical Leave Act. The employee is responsible for any existing employee-paid premiums necessary to maintain he…

Each employer must develop and disseminate a policy specifying the procedures, required information, and time frames for employees to request and use leave in accordance with the state laws, the civil service rules, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 law and regulations…

Employers who have received choice performance confirmation may grant employees up to five days of paid leave within a 12-month period to recognize outstanding accomplishments or the achievement of predefined work goals by individual employees or units. Leave granted under this p…

(1) An employee's request to use recognition leave must be approved under the following conditions:(a) An employee must be granted the use of recognition leave if the employee or the employee's family member as defined in chapter 357-01 WAC, is a victim of domestic violence, sexu…

The purpose of a sick leave pool is to allow general government state employees, within an agency, to pool sick leave to be used by participating employees who have a personal illness, accident, or injury. Sick leave contributed to a sick leave pool will be deducted from the cont…

Prior to creating a sick leave pool, an agency that decides to participate in the sick leave pool program must appoint an administrator for each sick leave pool and develop a written policy which at a minimum addresses:(1) Eligibility requirements for employees who wish to partic…

An employee is eligible to participate in a sick leave pool after one continuous year of state employment and after accruing at least forty-eight hours of unused sick leave.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-11-095, § 357-31-580, filed 5/16/07, effective 7/1/07.]

Participation in a sick leave pool must, at all times, be voluntary on the part of the employee.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-11-095, § 357-31-585, filed 5/16/07, effective 7/1/07.]

A participating employee is eligible to use sick leave from a pool only when the employee has a personal illness, accident, or injury and the employee has exhausted all of their personal holiday and all of their sick, vacation, compensatory time, and holiday credit.[Statutory Aut…

If the illness or injury is work-related and the participant has diligently pursued and been found to be ineligible for benefits under chapter 51.32 RCW the participant may be eligible to use leave from a pool if the employee has exhausted all of their personal holiday and all of…

A participating employee may not withdraw more than five hundred twenty-two days from a sick leave pool for the entire duration of state employment. The five hundred twenty-two days includes any days an employee has received under the Washington shared leave program. One day equa…

A participant who withdraws sick leave from a sick leave pool will be paid the participant's regular rate of pay.[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.06.133. WSR 26-08-085, s 357-31-605, filed 3/31/26, effective 5/1/26. Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-11-095, § 357-31-605,…

A part-time participating employee withdraws sick leave credits from a sick leave pool on a pro rata basis.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-11-095, § 357-31-610, filed 5/16/07, effective 7/1/07.]

When a participating employee uses leave from a sick leave pool the employee will not be required to recontribute such leave to the pool unless the agency has determined that abuse of the pool has occurred.[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.06.133. WSR 26-08-085, s 357-31-615, filed 3/…

Alleged abuse of the use of a sick leave pool will be investigated, and, on a finding of wrongdoing, the employee must repay all of the sick leave credits drawn from the sick leave pool. The employee may be subject to disciplinary action as determined by the agency head. The only…

An employee who cancels membership in a sick leave pool is not eligible to withdraw the hours of sick leave the employee had contributed to the pool.[Statutory Authority: RCW 41.06.133. WSR 26-08-085, s 357-31-625, filed 3/31/26, effective 5/1/26. Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.…

A participant who moves between general government positions within the same agency or with a different agency may transfer from one pool to another if the eligibility criteria of the pools are comparable and the administrators of the pools have agreed on a formula for transfer o…

Each agency shall maintain accurate and reliable records showing the amount of sick leave which has been accumulated and available to sick leave pool participants and the amount of leave that has been used by participants.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-11-095, § …

The uniformed service shared leave pool was created so that state employees who are called to service in the uniformed services will be able to maintain a level of compensation and employee benefits consistent with the amount they would have received had they remained in active s…

The military department, in consultation with the office of financial management, shall administer the uniformed service shared leave pool.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 11-23-054, § 357-31-645, filed 11/10/11, effective 12/13/11; WSR 07-17-123, § 357-31-645, filed …

The following definitions apply to the uniformed service shared leave pool:(1) "Employee" means any employee who is entitled to accrue sick leave or vacation leave and for whom accurate leave records are maintained. This does not include employees of school districts and educatio…

Each employer must have a written policy which at a minimum addresses:(1) Eligibility requirements for use of the uniformed service shared leave pool;(2) Donation of leave;(3) Use of pool leave; and(4) Abuse of pool.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-17-123, § 357-31…

Participation in the uniformed service shared leave pool, must at all times, be voluntary on the part of the donating and receiving employee.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-17-123, § 357-31-660, filed 8/20/07, effective 10/1/07.]

Employees are eligible to request leave from the uniformed service shared leave pool if they are called to service in one of the uniformed services and eligible for shared leave under RCW 41.04.665.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-17-123, § 357-31-665, filed 8/20/0…

An employee using shared leave under these rules continues to be classified as a state employee and receives the same treatment in respect to salary, wages, and employee benefits as the employee would normally receive if using accrued vacation leave or sick leave.[Statutory Autho…

Shared leave received under the uniformed service shared leave pool is not included in the five hundred twenty-two day total specified in RCW 41.04.665.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 10-11-074, § 357-31-675, filed 5/14/10, effective 6/15/10; WSR 07-17-123, § 357-31-…

Leave donated under this section is "pooled" and is withdrawn from the pool by eligible employees according to priorities established by the military department. Leave donated cannot be directed to a specific individual.[Statutory Authority: Chapter 41.06 RCW. WSR 07-17-123, § 35…

An employee may donate vacation leave, sick leave, or all or part of a personal holiday for purposes of the uniformed service shared leave pool under the following conditions:(1) Vacation leave: The donating employee's employer approves the employee's request to donate a specifie…

Employees who are eligible to receive shared leave from the uniformed service shared leave pool must first use all accrued compensatory time, accrued holiday credit, recognition leave as described in WAC 357-31-565, and personal holiday before receiving shared leave from the unif…

Shared leave paid under this section, in combination with military salary, as defined in WAC 357-31-650(4), shall not exceed the level of the employee's state monthly salary as defined in WAC 357-31-650(5). However, up to eight hours per month of shared leave under this section m…