In 2017, Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program was enacted to provide partial wage replacement to employees on leave for specified family and medical reasons. The state-administered PFML fund provides qualified employees with the following maximum leave amounts per calendar year: (a) up to 12 weeks of paid family or medical leave, (b) up to 16 weeks of leave when family and medical leave are used in combination, and (c) an additional two weeks of leave due to pregnancy complications. Because of concerns about the potential insolvency of the PFML fund, the Washington State Legislature recently passed Second Substitute Senate Bill 5649 (SB 5649), which provides for an audit, retention of a financial consultant to advise on solvency issues, and a task force to develop recommendations for 2023 legislative changes. In addition to these accountability measures, SB 5649 also amended some of the PFML benefits and requirements. These 2022 amendments, which generally took effect on 9 June 2022, are detailed below.
The 2022 amendments expand the reasons for paid leave to include bereavement under specific circumstances. Employees may now use paid family leave during the seven calendar days after the death of a child for whom the employee would have qualified for medical leave for the birth of the child or would have qualified for family leave to bond with the child following their birth or placement.
She is 66 and on Original Medicare. Her latest Medicare Summary Notice (MSN) lists a $1,200 knee brace from a supplier she has never heard of. Her knees are fine and no package ever came. Medicare...