The Washington State Legislature has clarified several points of the state’s existing paid sick leave law as it relates to employers that use PTO policies to satisfy the state’s sick leave obligation. Washington lawmakers also passed SSB 5793 to amend the paid sick leave law effective January 1, 2025.

PTO Programs

• A PTO program is an employer policy that provides leave that can be used for more than one purpose (e.g., both sick leave and vacation).
• Employers that use PTO programs to comply with Washington state’s PSL law must provide notification informing employees that the employer-provided PTO is intended to satisfy state PSL requirements. Additionally, they must ensure that their PTO policy meets the following requirements:
  • Sick leave must accrue at a rate of one hour or more per 40 hours worked
  • Sick leave must be paid at the employee’s normal hourly rate or the state’s minimum wage for tipped employees, whichever is greater
  • At least 40 hours of accrued, unused time off is allowed to carry over year to year
  • The sick leave portion of PTO is tracked separately from the non-sick leave
  • Employees are not encouraged or required to use their sick leave for unpaid leave purposes before accessing non-paid sick leave time
  • In the case of construction workers, any balance of unused leave must be paid out upon separation from employment

PSL Amendment

• With the passage of SB 5793, which takes effect January 1, 2025, the following changes apply to Washington’s PSL law:
  • Employees may take sick leave when their child’s school or place of care is closed for a health-related reason or public emergency
  • “Family member” is redefined to include anyone who regularly resides in the employee’s home, except in a situation where there is no expectation that the employee care for the person, and anyone for whom their relationship with the employee creates an expectation that the employee will provide care. This definition is consistent with the recently updated definition of “family member” under Washington’s paid family and medical leave law
  • “Family member” is also redefined to include the spouse of an employee’s child