This bill amends existing law (RCW 50A.24.010) to expand eligibility and set terms for employer grants under the paid family and medical leave insurance program. It allows employers with 51 to 150 employees, employers with 50 or fewer employees who are assessed all premiums under RCW 50A.10.030(5)(b), and school districts classified as second class under RCW 28A.300.065 to apply for grants. The amendment also excludes employers with approved voluntary plans from eligibility. The amendment creates two types of grant payments and limits on their use: a $3,000 grant when an employer hires a temporary worker to replace an employee on family or medical leave for seven days or more; and up to $1,000 to reimburse “significant additional wage-related costs” caused by an employee’s leave. An employer may receive either the $3,000 payment or the up-to-$1,000 reimbursement, but not both, except that an employer who first receives the up-to-$1,000 reimbursement may later receive the difference up to $3,000 if the leave is extended and a temporary worker is hired. Employers may apply for a grant no more than ten times per calendar year and no more than once for each employee on leave, must provide written documentation to the department showing the temporary hire or wage-related costs, and grants are funded from the family and medical leave insurance account. The amendment also requires that employers with fewer than 50 employees who receive a grant be assessed all premiums for three years from the date of grant receipt, and directs the commissioner to adopt rules as needed. Key items not specified in the provided text include which agency is meant by “department” and which official is the “commissioner,” any definition or quantification of “significant additional wage-related costs,” the detailed method for calculating employee counts beyond the cross-reference to RCW 50A.10.030, and any effective date or full application procedures.

More employers would be able to recover part of the cost when staff take paid family or medical leave: mid-sized employers (51–150 employees), certain small employers who are assessed all premiums, and second-class school districts could get either a $3,000 payment if they hire a temporary replacement for seven or more days or up to $1,000 to cover significant extra wage-related costs. Grants are limited to once per employee and no more than ten times per year, require written proof that costs were due to leave, are paid from the family and medical leave insurance account, and are not available to employers with approved voluntary plans. In practice this likely reduces short-term staffing costs for eligible employers but creates a new administrative burden to document claims and follow rules the commissioner will issue; employers with fewer than 50 employees who accept a grant will face assessment of all premiums for three years, increasing their ongoing payroll costs and financial risk. Key details needed to predict impact more precisely are missing here: the agency and commissioner responsible, how “significant additional wage-related costs” is defined, the application process, and any effective date.