# Washington — Workers' compensation waiting periods and retroactive thresholds by US state

For Washington, waiting period (days) is 3 days; retroactive trigger (days) is 7 days (for injuries on or after June 6, 2024); 14 days (for injuries before June 6, 2024); how days are counted is The first 3 days immediately following the injury are a waiting period. The worker receives benefits for those days only if still off work on the 7th day after injury (for injuries on or after June 6, 2024); statute or rule citation is RCW § 51.32.090, recorded from its source on 2026-08-17.

- **State:** Washington _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Waiting period (days):** 3 days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Retroactive trigger (days):** 7 days (for injuries on or after June 6, 2024); 14 days (for injuries before June 6, 2024) _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **How days are counted:** The first 3 days immediately following the injury are a waiting period. The worker receives benefits for those days only if still off work on the 7th day after injury (for injuries on or after June 6, 2024). _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute or rule citation:** RCW § 51.32.090 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> the first 3 days immediately following your injury are considered a waiting period. You will only receive benefits for those days if you are still off work on the 7th day after your injury.

## Source

- https://www.lni.wa.gov/claims/for-workers/claim-benefits/wage-replacement

Last verified: 2026-08-17. Review by: 2027-08-17.
Part of [Workers' compensation waiting periods and retroactive thresholds by US state](https://referencesource.org/wc-waiting-periods-by-state/).