This bill amends existing Washington family and medical leave law to add detailed administrative, procedural, benefit, and employer obligations. It directs the department to establish and administer the family and medical leave program, adopt efficiency measures (including combined reporting where feasible), create application forms and timelines (notify employers within five business days of applications), conduct outreach in English and primary languages, keep employee leave records confidential subject to specified exceptions, and inspect and audit employer files. The commissioner is given rulemaking duties, must prepare employee and employer notices and forms, and must adjust the maximum weekly benefit annually; employers must post commissioner‑prepared notices and provide written statements of rights to employees absent more than seven consecutive days, with a civil penalty up to $100 per willful posting violation. The bill modifies benefit rules and procedures: it sets a seven‑day waiting period except for birth/placement and qualifying exigency leave, a minimum claim duration of four consecutive hours, prorated and rounded weekly benefits, a specified benefit formula tied to the employee’s average weekly wage and the state average weekly wage, minimum and maximum weekly benefit rules with annual adjustment, and caps on leave measured in multiples of an employee’s typical workweek (family leave up to 12×, medical leave up to 12× plus an additional 2× for pregnancy‑related incapacity, and a combined maximum of 16× extendable to 18× in pregnancy‑related cases). Postnatal paid leave for certain employees is designated medical leave unless the employee elects family leave, and certification of a serious health condition is not required for that postnatal paid leave. The bill changes rules for voluntary employer plans and employment protection. It sets conditions for voluntary plan approval (including equivalence to state benefits), requires employers with voluntary plans to make required payroll deductions and remit funds on termination or withdrawal, limits payroll deduction increases, requires a one‑year minimum plan term and prescribes notice rules for withdrawal, and establishes a $250 department review fee per voluntary plan application with a required three‑year departmental review and legislative adjustment of the fee if needed; the department may use the family and medical leave insurance account if fee receipts are inadequate. It clarifies employment restoration rights (including eligibility after 90 calendar days of employment, when restoration may be denied for certain high‑paid employees to avoid economic injury, forfeiture timeframes for restoration rights, notice requirements, and employer notice duties regarding FMLA designation and counting), allows the department to require reporting for enforcement, and amends law to require employers to maintain an employee’s existing health benefits during leave (employee remains responsible for their share), with three specified exceptions. The act takes effect January 1, 2026. Some statutory text and definitions needed to fully interpret these changes are missing from the provided extracts (for example, the full definitions of “typical workweek hours,” qualifying exigency, details in cited RCW subsections, portions of the voluntary plan fee subsection, and certain amended section texts). Those missing portions are necessary to fully determine scope and application and are not included here.

If enacted, the bill sets up a statewide family and medical leave program that will give eligible workers paid leave with a defined benefit formula, fixed minimums and maximums, and specified waiting and minimum claim rules; it also requires employers to provide written notices and keep a posted summary of rights, to continue employee health benefits during leave in most cases, and to collect and remit premiums or pay parts not covered by an employer’s approved voluntary plan. In practice, employees are likely to get predictable wage replacement and job protection for specified periods, while employers face new ongoing obligations and costs: collecting payroll deductions, maintaining health coverage during leave (including continuing the employee share), submitting remittances when voluntary plans end or don’t cover all leave, paying a $250 review fee per voluntary plan application, responding to audits, and risking up to $100 per posting violation. Key administrative burdens and costs shift to the department and commissioner, who must run the program, do outreach in multiple languages, adopt rules, adjust the maximum weekly benefit annually, and review voluntary plan administration costs for the legislature; the legislature may need to adjust fees if the department’s review shows the initial fee is inadequate. Important implementation details are missing from the provided text—definitions like “typical workweek hours,” precise eligibility rules, the specific fee amount referenced, and parts of the voluntary plan provisions are not included—so exact employer liabilities, premium rates, and some enforcement mechanics cannot be determined from these excerpts.