LeaveCalc / Sick leave / Washington

Washington paid sick leave calculator

Enter your hours worked and see your accrued paid sick leave under Washington’s law, including any cap and your running balance, instantly and privately.

✓ Free✓ Runs in your browser, nothing uploaded✓ Uses Washington’s 2026 sick leave rules

1 Your hours

How we count:
  • We multiply the hours you worked by Washington's accrual rate to estimate hours earned.
  • If the law sets an annual accrual cap, we stop counting new hours once you hit it.
  • If the law sets a maximum balance, your total before subtracting used hours is capped there too.
  • This does not account for hours carried over from a previous year or usage timed partway through the period.
Not legal advice or a payroll record. These are estimates based on the accrual rules on file for Washington. Always check your actual balance against your pay stub, employee handbook or HR/payroll system; real-world proration and policy exceptions are not reflected here.

The rule in Washington

“1 hour per 40 hours worked; no statutory cap on accrual, but unused balances over 40h need not carry forward if the employer opts to…

“1 hour per 40 hours worked; no statutory cap on accrual, but unused balances over 40h need not carry forward if the employer opts to front-load instead”

  • Accrual rate. Earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours you work.
  • Annual accrual cap. No separate annual accrual cap is set in the data on file.
  • Maximum balance you can hold. No maximum balance figure is set in the data on file.
  • Payout at termination. Sick leave payout at termination is generally not required unless your employer’s own policy promises it. (This is separate from any vacation-payout rules that may apply in Washington.)
  • Carryover. No state cap on ordinary vacation; forfeiture is enforceable if the written policy states it. Washington's sick-leave law below is the one with a hard statewide floor.
High confidenceOfficial source

How Washington’s paid sick leave accrual works

Under Washington’s paid sick leave law, earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours you work.

Under Washington’s paid sick leave law, earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours you work. That works out to about 1.0 hours a week for a full-time, 40-hour-a-week employee, or about 52.0 hours over a full 2,080-hour work year, before any cap in the law is applied.

The data on file does not show a numeric cap on accrual or on your total balance for this law.

Sick leave you do not use is generally not paid out when you leave your job unless your employer’s own policy says otherwise; that is a separate question from Washington’s rules about ordinary vacation pay at termination, which this page does not cover. On carryover: No state cap on ordinary vacation; forfeiture is enforceable if the written policy states it. Washington's sick-leave law below is the one with a hard statewide floor.

Part-time employees accrue the same way, just on fewer hours: someone working 25 hours a week under this law would earn about 0.6 hours of paid sick leave every week, or roughly 32.5 hours over a full year, subject to the same cap rules described above.

FAQ

How fast does paid sick leave accrue in Washington?

You earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours you work.

Is there a cap on how much I can earn?

The state does not set a separate annual accrual cap in the data on file.

Can I carry unused sick leave into the next year?

The data on file does not show a numeric carryover cap for this specific sick leave mandate. For context, Washington’s general note on ordinary vacation carryover says: No state cap on ordinary vacation; forfeiture is enforceable if the written policy states it. Washington's sick-leave law below is the one with a hard statewide floor.

Does my employer’s size change my sick leave rules in Washington?

No, Washington’s law does not vary the accrual rate or cap by employer size in the data on file.

Is unused sick time paid out when I leave my job?

Generally, no. Paid sick leave you have not used is typically not required to be paid out when you leave a job, unless your employer’s own written policy specifically promises it. That is a separate question from any rules your state may have about ordinary vacation pay at termination, which this page does not cover.

Where is Washington’s paid sick leave law?

See the official source: https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/leave/paid-sick-leave/. LeaveCalc’s confidence rating for this page is High.