Washington’s weekly paid family and medical leave payments will top out at $1,727 for claims filed on or after January 1, 2027, the state Employment Security Department says. That is $80 more than the $1,647 maximum that applies in 2026, a rise of about 4.9 percent. The minimum weekly payment stays at $100.
The date that matters is the day a claim is filed, not the day the time off begins. A worker in Washington who files for leave in December 2026 falls under this year’s $1,647 cap, while a worker who files on January 1 or later falls under the new $1,727 cap. Anyone planning a birth, a surgery or time to care for a family member around the new year can ask the employer and the department which date applies to the leave they have in mind.
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Why does the cap move every year?
The cap is tied to wages across the state. The department’s June 10, 2026 announcement puts the 2025 average annual wage at $99,810, up 4.9 percent from $95,160 in 2024. Total earnings across the state grew by nearly $15.7 billion while covered employment slipped by 0.2 percent.
That wage figure then feeds several programs at once. The department says the 2025 average wage sets paid leave benefits for claims filed from January 1, 2027, unemployment benefits for claims opened from July 5, 2026, and employer unemployment taxes beginning January 1, 2027. The state Department of Labor and Industries also uses it for workers’ compensation.
The climb has been steady. The department lists the average annual wage at $89,138 for 2023, $95,160 for 2024 and $99,810 for 2025, and the average weekly wage rose from $1,830 to $1,919 over the last year. The department notes that these are preliminary estimates and are not adjusted for inflation.
How far does the new cap reach in a month?
At $1,727 a week, the top payment comes to $6,908 over four weeks, compared with $6,588 at the 2026 cap. The $320 gap is what the full cap adds over a four-week stretch for the highest earners. Most workers receive less than the maximum, because the weekly amount depends on what a worker was earning, and the cap only bites at the top.
The new figure applies to new claims filed on or after January 1, 2027, through December 2027, the department says. The state’s release does not carry a quote from a named official, and the department lists Communications Director Chris Barron as the media contact.
What changed for unemployment at the same time?
The same announcement raised the other benefit most Washington workers hear about. New unemployment claims opened on or after July 5, 2026 pay a maximum of $1,208 a week, up from $1,152, and a minimum of $383, up from $366. Employers will pay unemployment tax on the first $82,000 of each worker’s wages in 2027, up from $78,200 in 2026.
Paid leave and unemployment are separate claims with separate start dates, which is why the $1,727 cap does not touch a claim for jobless benefits. The department’s news page also carries a separate release headlined “Paid Family & Medical Leave premium rate increases to 1.2% in 2027,” which covers the cost side of the program rather than the weekly payment.
What does a higher cap leave unanswered for a household?
A weekly payment that tops out at $1,727 is still a fraction of some paychecks, and rent, utilities and prescriptions keep coming during a leave. The state’s figure answers what the leave will pay at the top. It does not answer what a household does about the bills that remain, and that gap is where other benefits sometimes apply.
Planning a Washington leave that starts after January 1, 2027?
A claim filed a few days too early lands under the lower $1,647 cap, and even the higher $1,727 payment leaves a household short on bills that do not pause during a leave. Paid leave does not cover everything, and the programs that fill the gap each have their own income limits and sign-up steps.
The Benefits Checklist is a separate guide to 11 benefit programs that retirees and families most often miss, with the 2026 income limits and a 50-state phone directory, plus a printable tracker that comes with the download. It does not cover paid leave itself, so it works as the household-bill side of the same plan.
Open The Benefits Checklist for the household-bill help that outlasts a leave →
More Financial Reading
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- 15 Steps to Stop the Scams That Took $7.7 Billion From Seniors
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
