Washington Employer Resources

Washington sick leave does not simply reset in January

Author

By Phil Hering

Published:

October 28, 2026

Updated:

October 28, 2026

Reading time

4 minute read

Direct answer: Before closing your leave year, confirm the employer's accrual year, applicable carryover rules and payroll settings. Under Washington's state minimum, unused balances up to 40 hours carry forward, and new accrual continues on top of the carryover.

Evergreen Washington state guide • Last verified October 27, 2026

A payroll setting labeled “annual reset” deserves a closer look before someone clicks it. The question is not just whether the software starts a new year. It is what happens to each employee's earned balance when it does.

For employers using a calendar-year accrual period, the next transition is December 31, 2026, to January 1, 2027. That makes autumn a useful time to check the policy against the system. Employers using another established accrual year should perform the same review before their own rollover date.

Start with the state floor

Washington's paid-sick-leave accrual rule took effect January 1, 2018. Covered employees accrue at least one hour for every 40 hours worked. The carryover limit is not an annual accrual cap. Under the state minimum, an employer may limit carryover to 40 hours, but cannot erase an unused balance below that amount. A more generous applicable policy or local requirement may require more. [1][2]

The default year is January through December. An employer may establish a different fixed consecutive 12-month period; L&I says a different accrual year must be defined in a written policy or collective bargaining agreement. [1][2]

The state protection includes covered part-time, temporary and seasonal employees. It is not limited to businesses in Navigator's usual audience size range. Certain statutory exclusions apply, including qualifying executive, administrative and professional exemptions; paying someone a salary alone does not answer coverage. [1]

Location and policy still matter

This article addresses Washington's state minimum for covered work. It is not a Seattle-specific carryover calculator. If employees work in Seattle or another jurisdiction with additional requirements, check those rules before applying a single companywide setting. A business with mobile crews should identify work locations rather than rely only on its office address.

Also distinguish ordinary year-end carryover from separation and rehire. Those events have their own rules, and certain construction-worker separations require special treatment. If you use a combined PTO bank, frontload leave, or have a collective bargaining agreement, ask for a review of that arrangement before changing balances. [1]

Hypothetical example: A Washington shop outside any more protective local rule uses the calendar year and the state-minimum carryover policy. An employee finishes the year with 28 unused hours. All 28 carry forward. The software should not delete them because the calendar changes, or top them up to 40 merely because 40 is the carryover threshold.

Review a sample before the rollover

Use this worksheet with payroll:

At least monthly, employees must receive information about accrual, use and available balances. A statement that displays the wrong balance should prompt reconciliation, not reassurance that the system handled it. [1]

Your next steps

1. Required: Apply the carryover and accrual rules that govern each covered employee; do not substitute an annual zero-out setting.
2. Recommended: Compare a sample of payroll balances with policy before the accrual year ends.
3. Recommended: Have the provider demonstrate the rollover in a test or preview and document any correction.
4. Required: Continue the applicable balance notices; recommended: tell employees whom to contact about discrepancies.

Team question: Can we explain an employee's opening balance using the policy and records, without relying on “that's what payroll calculated”?

Navigator Strategy's Quick Second Look can help you organize a leave-administration concern and identify the appropriate specialist. Use the Comprehensive Business Second Look if leave, payroll and workforce processes need to be reviewed together.

General education: This is a focused state carryover explainer, not legal advice or a complete leave policy. Paid sick leave is distinct from Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave; do not use this checklist to determine that program's eligibility or benefits. Checked October 27, 2026. WAC effective January 1, 2018; the January 1, 2027 date above is the next calendar-year transition, not a newly enacted rule. Seattle source access was blocked during research, so no Seattle tier calculations are presented. Local applicability, exemptions and combined PTO arrangements require individual review.