Blog

Washington will join 15 other states with an auto-enrollment retirement program

This year the Legislature passed, and the governor signed, ESSB 6069. The legislation establishes “Washington Saves,” an “automatic enrollment individual retirement savings account program.” Under the program, employees will be allowed to contribute to an IRA that is facilitated by the state through automatic payroll deductions. For employees of covered employers, enrollment will be automatic, […]

Washington’s workers’ compensation benefit costs are still the highest in the country

According to the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), Washington’s workers’ compensation benefit costs per covered worker are still the nation’s highest. Benefit costs in Washington were $849.67 per covered worker in 2021 (up from $824.53 in 2020). The second highest was $772.41 per covered worker in Wyoming. As a share of covered wages, benefit […]

Unemployment insurance for striking workers?

Currently, striking workers are ineligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits in Washington. SB 5777 would make striking workers eligible for UI at the earlier of the Sunday following the first day of the strike or the date the strike ends. Additionally, under current law, employees who are represented by a multi-employer bargaining unit are ineligible […]

Making benefits portable and other long-term care program changes could increase premiums by 0.03% to 0.05% (and does statute allow funds to be used out of state?)

The state’s long-term care program, for which premiums began to be collected on July 1, 2023, is called the long-term services and supports (LTSS) trust program in statute. State law requires biennial actuarial audits of the program. The most recent actuarial audit was performed by Milliman in 2022. It estimated that the 0.58% premium rate […]

Businesses with fewer than 50 employees could be required to pay the employer portion of the premium for the paid family and medical leave program

Throughout 2022, the paid family and medical leave (PFML) program was in financial trouble. In response, the Legislature acted in 2023 to change the program’s rate structure and appropriated $200 million from the general fund–state to seed a reserve for the  program. Financial data presented to the PFML advisory committee this month indicates that no […]

Paid family and medical leave actuarial report recommends changing the premium rate formula again

In response to the cash deficits in the paid family and medical leave (PFML) program, the Legislature acted in 2022 to require the Employment Security Department (ESD) to produce an annual actuarial report on the program’s financial condition. The report must include estimates of the “lowest future premium rates necessary to maintain solvency of the […]

Paid family and medical leave premium rate will decrease from 0.8% to 0.74% in 2024

During today’s meeting of the paid family and medical leave (PFML) advisory committee, the Employment Security Department (ESD) announced that the PFML premium rate for 2024 will be 0.74%. (Employees will be statutorily responsible for 71.43% of the premium and employers will be responsible for 28.57%.) The family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) account went […]

Average workers’ compensation rates could increase by 4.9% in 2024

The Department of Labor & Industries is proposing a 4.9% increase in average workers’ compensation rates for next year. That would be the largest increase since 2011 (displacing this year’s increase of 4.8%). According to L&I, rates would increase for 283 of 325 risk classes. L&I notes, “In part, the rate increase is needed because […]

No paid family and medical leave deficits in sight, after cash influx from state general fund

The paid family and medical leave program has been in deficit several times since Spring 2022. (Our report about the program’s problems is here.) The monthly ending balance of the family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) account has been negative six times, including this April (see the chart below). At the April meeting of the […]

Washington’s average annual wage grew much slower in 2022 than in recent years

The Employment Security Department (ESD) reports that the state average annual wage was $84,167 in 2022. That is just 2.0% higher than the 2021 average wage. In 2020 and 2021, there were record high increases in the average wage (see the chart below). According to ESD, the growth in the average wage slowed because “[a] […]