WA Paid Family Medical Leave Withholding Setup

Owned by Knowledge Assistant
Last updated: Feb 01, 2024 by Moriah Yorkey
2 min read
Description of Issue

An employee has moved to Washington state and will be working remotely.  I need to set up a Family Medical Leave deduction.

Context

  • Payroll

  • Washington

  • WA PFML

Cause

Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) is an insurance program in Washington funded through premiums paid by employees and employers. 

All employers may either withhold employees' premiums from their paychecks, or pay some or all of the premium on their employees’ behalf.

Employers who choose to withhold premiums from their employees may withhold up to 63% of the total premium.

The employer is responsible for paying the other 37% and remitting total premiums to the Employment Security Department (ESD) on a quarterly basis.

Resolution

Create a WA PFML deduction code -

  1. Open the Deduction and Benefit Master program.  

  2. Click Add.

  3. Complete the following fields as detailed below and complete all remaining fields at your discretion. Reference Deduction and Benefit Master for detailed assistance with fields not specifically noted below.  

    1. Calc Code - Select 33 – PCT FROM DED MASTER LESS EMPE AMT from the drop down list.

    2. Emp/Empr - Select 3 – Both Pay from the drop down list.

    3. Emp Amt/Pct - Enter the portion of the premium the employee will be responsible for.  

      1. Example: If you’ve opted to use the state plan for both family and medical leave and opt not to cover any of the employee's share of the premium, the employee will pay about 73.22% of the .6% premium (for 2022).  The .6 (Premium Amount)  * .7322 (Employee Portion) is .43932, which rounds to .4393.  In this scenario, you would enter .4393 in the Emp Amt/Pct field.

    4. Empr Amt/Pct - Enter the full premium amount (.6 for 2022).

    5. Empe Limit - Enter the Social Security Taxable Wage Base amount

    6. Limit Type - Enter Z - Calendar Year - Gross

  4. Link the new deduction to applicable employees in the Employee Deduction program.  Reference Adding Employee Deductions for detailed instructions

Additional Information

Detailed PFML information available on the ESD website here: www.paidleave.wa.gov/employers 

Â