Articles Discussing General Topics In Washington Labor & Employment Law.

Earlier this year, the City Council of Tacoma, Washington approved a Paid Leave Ordinance (“Ordinance”).1 Starting February 1, 2016, nearly all private sector employers must provide employees who work in Tacoma specified amounts of accrued, job-protected paid leave for personal illness, family care, domestic violence, and bereavement. Tacoma is now the third city in Washington State, joining Seattle and SeaTac, to require that employers provide a paid leave benefit.

Two new Seattle ordinances imposing significant workplace changes on employers with employees in the City took effect on April 1, 2015.

Washington Workplace Bills to Watch; Seattle April 1 Minimum Wage Increase; Will Oregon Employers Soon Need to Accommodate Medicinal Marijuana Use?

Employers with employees in Seattle will have to pay one of the highest minimum wages in the country beginning April 1, 2015.

The Pacific N.W. Employer Fall 2014.

Seattle, Washington has enacted groundbreaking legislation that, over several years, will phase in a $15.00 per hour minimum wage, the nation’s highest for private employers who do not contract with governmental entities.1 Although a handful of states have recently enacted incremental increases in the minimum wage,2 Seattle’s new ordinance, passed unanimously by its nine member City Council and signed by Seattle Mayor Ed Murray on June 3, takes the concept much further and could signal a national trend leading to similar increases being considered by other large cities. According to City projections, Seattle’s new minimum wage will be nearly double Washington State’s current minimum wage of $9.32 per hour by 2025, due to built-in inflation adjustments.

A bulletin on employment, labor, benefits and immigration law.

A bulletin on employment, labor, benefits and immigration law.

Effective November 1, 2013, Seattle, Washington will join various other jurisdictions (most recently Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina and Buffalo, New York) that limit inquiries into and the use of criminal records for employment purposes.1 On June 10, 2013, the Seattle City Council adopted Council Bill 117796 (the “Ordinance”), which Mayor Mike McGinn is expected to sign.2 The Ordinance provides for administrative enforcement but affords no private right of action. Nonetheless, employers with operations or employees in Seattle should review the prohibitions in the Ordinance and should also continue to monitor related developments across the U.S.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee on May 21, 2013, signed Washington’s social media privacy bill, banning employers from requesting user names and passwords of current or prospective employees’ personal social media accounts. The bill (SB 5211) was passed unanimously by the Washington State Legislature in April 2013. Others state to have enacted such legislation include Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah. The new Washington law is effective on July 28, 2013.

In Lodis v. Corbis Holdings, Inc., No. 67215-1-I (Wash. Ct. App. Jan. 14, 2013), the Washington State Court of Appeals has helped clarify what has become a contentious issue in employment litigation, ruling that “when a plaintiff puts his mental health at issue by alleging emotional distress . . . [t]he defendant is entitled to discover any records relevant to the plaintiff’s emotional distress.” In the same opinion, the court also held that a human resources executive need not step “outside his or her role of representing the company” to be protected from adverse treatment based on counseling others against discriminatory conduct.

A bulletin on employment, labor, benefits and immigration law.

Washington State voters have agreed to allow the sale and possession of small amounts of marijuana. Individuals who are 21 years and older may lawfully purchase and possess up to one ounce of useable marijuana, or larger amounts of marijuana-infused products, at licensed retail outlets that have been approved by Washington’s state liquor control board, under the measure approved November 6.

Of the three marijuana-legalization voter initiatives on state ballots November 6, Washington Initiative 502 is the most likely to be adopted. Oregon’s Measure 80 is expected to be defeated by voters. Amendment 64 in Colorado is ahead in the polls, but the margin is narrowing and opposition among Colorado voters, especially women voters, is gaining momentum. (See our article, Colorado Marijuana Legalization Ballot Initiative Loses Ground.)

All employers who employ at least five full-time employees (in any city or state) and have at least one employee who performs work within the City of Seattle must soon comply with Seattle’s Sick/Safe Leave law. The new law goes into effect on September 1, 2012. All employees, regardless of whether they are temporary, part-time or full-time have the right to paid sick/safe leave under this law if they work in Seattle on an “occasional basis,” or more than 240 hours within a calendar year. The location of the employer’s business is not relevant.