What is a Caregiver Leave?
In the state of Washington, you may be eligible for caregiver leave if you need to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
A qualifying family member is defined by Washington as one of the following: spouses and domestic partners, children (biological, adopted, foster, stepchild, legal guardian, de facto or loco parentis), parents and legal guardians (or spouse’s parents), siblings, grandchildren, grandparents (or spouse’s grandparents), son-in-law and daughter-in-law, or someone who has an expectation to rely on you for care—whether you live together or not.
How do I receive state benefits from the state of Washington while caring for a loved one?
If you have paid taxes in the state of Washington for a qualifying period, you may be eligible to receive benefits from the Washington Employment Security Department for up to 12 weeks of your caregiver leave. You will need to submit a Claim for Paid Family & Medical Leave Benefits.
What is a Medical Provider Certification?
Under FMLA, an employer is allowed to require that an employee submit a timely, complete, and sufficient medical certification to support a request for leave due to a serious health condition. Medical providers are health care professionals that can certify leave. These include: doctors, podiatrists, dentists, clinical psychologists, optometrists, chiropractors, nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives, clinical social workers and physician assistants.
This information is filled out by the recipient of care’s (your loved one’s) medical provider who is attesting to the caregiver leave. For official government information regarding the Medical Provider Certification, please see here.
How do I fill out my Claim for Paid Family Leave Benefits?
While Cocoon cannot handle the facilitation of your caregiver leave claim, we are here for you to provide guidance and answer any questions you may have. Please refer to the step by step guide on how to file your claim online via secureaccess.wa.gov.
Step 1 - Obtain medical certification:
You will need to provide a copy of Washington state’s Serious Health Condition form to your loved one’s medical provider for certification (download the form here)
After downloading the form, add your name and date of birth in the Paid Leave customer information section
From here, submit this form to your loved one’s medical provider
Step 2 - Account Creation:
Create an account at secureaccess.wa.gov
Once logged in, click the green “Add a new service” button
Click to browse a list of services by name
Select “PAID FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE (PFML)” to add the service to your account
Click the green “Access Now” button next to the newly added service to begin
Step 3 - Contact Preferences:
Date of Birth - enter your date of birth in MM/DD/YYYY format
Phone Number - enter your phone number
Email Address - confirm your email address
Preferred Contact Method - choose between email or phone
Voicemail preference - opt in or out to receiving voicemails from the state
Language preference - indicate if you’d like to communicate in a language other than English
Mailing Address - provide the address where you receive mail
Step 4 - Additional Information:
Indicate your gender identity
Indicate whether or not you are of Hispanic, Latinx, or Spanish origin
Select all that apply to describe your ethnic heritage
Step 5 - Leave Information:
Select Leave to care for a family member
Indicate which family member you are taking leave to care for
Select your leave start date (this is the first day benefits will be payable)
Select your leave end date (this is the date you will be paid through, not the day you return to work)
Indicate whether or not you will receive workers’ compensation or unemployment insurance benefits for this time period
Indicate whether or not you knew you would need to take this leave in advance
Indicate whether or not you notified your employer
If so, provide the date when you notified them
Step 6 - Employment Information:
Indicate your employment status
Review the employers the state has on record associated with you
Select “I currently work here” for any current employers
If you do not recognize an employer, select “I did not work here”
If your current employer does not appear, click the gray “Add Employer” button at the bottom of the page and provide the information manually.
Step 7 - Upload Your Documents:
You are required to upload a proof of identity document (outlined here)
Upload this document and select “Proof of Identity” for document type
You are required to upload your care loved one’s completed medical certification
Upload this document and select “Medical Certification” for document type
Step 8 - Review:
Review the information and click submit
Step 9 - Preferred Payment Method:
Select either direct deposit or debit card
Step 10 - Weekly Claims Certifications:
Once the claim is approved, you will need to log in to your account and complete weekly claims certifications in order for funds to be released
Washington state displays their weeks as Sunday through Saturday
Every Sunday morning, the weekly claim for the preceding 7 days will become available
There is a lot of nuance here depending on how many days of the week you worked so here are a few examples of how you would respond to the weekly claim
1. For a week when you are fully off work - the most important thing here is to enter 0 for hours works worked, 0 for hours you received supplemental pay, "Yes" to missing 8 consecutive hours of work.
2. For a week when you are partially off work - the most important thing here is to enter one of 8/16/24/32 for hours worked, 0 for hours you received supplemental pay, "Yes" to missing 8 consecutive hours of work.
3. For a week when you are fully back to work - the most important thing here is to enter 40 for hours worked, 0 for hours you received supplemental pay, "No" to missing 8 consecutive hours of work.
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