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2021 Op. Wash. Att'y Gen. [1] (2021)

handle is hein.sag/sagwa2021 and id is 1 raw text is: Published on Washington State (https://www.atg.wa.gov)
Home > Whether State, County, And City Elected Officials Are Employees Subject To Withholding Under Washington's Paid Family And Medical Leave Act
Attorney General
MEDICAL BENEFITS-ELECTED OFFICIALS-EMPLOYEES-Whether State, County, And
City Elected Officials Are Employees Subject To Withholding Under Washington's Paid
Family And Medical Leave Act
Elected officials are employees for purposes of Washington's Paid Family and Medical
Leave Act, and are subject to withholding of premiums as described by RCW 50A.10.030.
February 23, 2021
The Honorable C. Dale Slack
Columbia County Prosecuting Attorney          Cite As:
215 E Clay Street                             AGO 2021 No. 1
Dayton, WA 99328
Dear Prosecutor Slack:
By letter previously acknowledged, you have requested our opinion on two questions,
which we paraphrase as follows:
1.    Do state, county, and city elected officials within the State of
Washington qualify as employees under Washington's Paid Family and
Medical Leave Act (PFMLA)?
2.   Are state, county, and city elected officials within the State of
Washington subject to the withholding of Paid Family and Medical Leave
premiums as described by RCW 50A.10.030?
BRIEF ANSWERS
1.   Yes. The PFMLA creates a paid family and medical leave insurance benefit
system for all Washington workers who qualify as employees and meet eligibility requirements.
The PFMLA is silent on whether elected officials are included in that definition, but principles of
statutory interpretation lead us to conclude that the legislature likely did not intend to silently
exclude elected officials from the Act's protection.
2.   Yes. Under the PFMLA, premiums are assessed on a per-employee basis.
Because elected officials would likely be considered employees under the Act, premiums should

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