Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 5101 into law on May 20, 2025, which will amend Washington’s Domestic Violence Leave Act (DVLA) to include job protections for employees who seek certain types of assistance...more
On May 17, 2025, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1213, which both expands worker protections relating to Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (PFML) and allows an employer to limit...more
Effective July 27, 2025, Washington House Bill 1875 will expand the qualifying reasons for which an employee may use their accrued and available state-mandated paid sick leave to include time off for an employee to prepare...more
On May 7, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a much-anticipated new rule that would have prohibited ALL new noncompetes with employees nationwide, and enforcement of almost all existing noncompetes beginning...more
On May 7, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a much-anticipated new rule that, once in effect, will prohibit ALL new noncompetes with employees nationwide, and enforcement of almost all existing noncompetes...more
April and early May have been busy times for employment practitioners. From noncompete bans to agencies issuing new gender discrimination guidance, the spring “showers” of laws and regulations and court decisions discussed...more
5/31/2024
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Minimum Salary ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Over-Time ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition ,
Wage and Hour
Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) continues to shape the landscape of Oregon employment benefits since going into effect on September 3, 2023, and employers have faced ongoing challenges in navigating its complexities. In addition, the...more
5/3/2024
/ Employee Benefits ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Intermittent Leave ,
Notice Requirements ,
Oregon ,
Paid Leave ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Remote Working ,
Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Webinars
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means.” – Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride You may recall our alert just this January regarding a change to the sick leave rules that was uniquely...more
Outlined in part one of our series—SCOTUS Clarifies Whistleblower Claims Standard under Sarbanes Oxley—the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a federal court of appeals decision, resolving a recent federal appeals court split...more
2/15/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Intent ,
Murray v UBS Securities LLC ,
Protected Activity ,
Retaliation ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
SCOTUS ,
Whistleblower Protection Policies ,
Whistleblowers
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a federal court of appeals decision, resolving a relatively recent federal appeals court split regarding the standard for liability in Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claims....more
While current anti-discrimination laws in Washington (RCW Chapter 49.60) already apply to most employers, SB 5186 effective January 1, 2024, now requires that anti-discrimination clauses incorporating those protections be...more
As of January 1, 2024, Washington employers with commercial construction workers will need to be prepared to comply with new rules regarding paid sick leave. There are also new provisions applying to all employers....more
As of today, there has been no announcement of any delay in rolling out Paid Leave Oregon (PLO) so it is currently anticipated that paid leave benefits will begin September 3, 2023, as originally planned. See our prior alert:...more
Governor Kotek signed Oregon Senate Bill 999 into law on June 7, 2023, which amends the Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) and Paid Leave Oregon (ORS Chapter 657B) and incorporates changes intended to better align the laws in...more
As most Oregon employers are well aware by now, Oregon’s paid family and medical leave program, known as Paid Leave Oregon, is now underway—at least in part. Paid Leave Oregon is a mandatory statewide insurance program that...more
Across the country, pay transparency is an escalating priority for today’s workforce and lawmakers. In both Washington and Oregon—where we have laws targeting equal pay—new compliance requirements and strategies are driving...more
3/9/2023
/ Continuing Legal Education ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Applicants ,
Oregon ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
Recruitment Policies ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington ,
Webinars
As it had been encouraged by President Biden after he took office, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) today finally took steps to regulate employee noncompete agreements at the federal level...more
Under state and federal occupational safety laws, employers have a general duty to provide a safe and healthy workplace. That duty includes taking reasonable steps to keep it free of any recognized hazards that might hurt or...more
As most Oregon employers are aware by now, Oregon’s Paid Family Leave program is set to go into effect next year. While the start date for leave benefits to begin was pushed back to September 1, 2023, employers still need to...more
As summer winds to a close, students return to classrooms and campuses, and many workplaces have returned to in-person activities. Either in whole or in part, COVID-19 has perhaps begun to be less “front of mind” than it once...more
It should be no surprise that the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a tremendous impact on today’s employees’ thoughts on life, work, and workplace rules. A recent Harvard Business Review article describes...more
The Pacific Northwest experienced record high heat temperatures and poor air quality due to wildfires the past few summers. Last year, Oregon OSHA adopted temporary emergency rules following a historic heat wave to protect...more
Just this month, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that even temporary health conditions without long-term effects may qualify as disabilities protected by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). While this...more
With all the focus on the imminent changes to mask mandates and renewed return to work planning efforts underway, one important new obligation in Washington State may have slipped past many employers’ radars. While announcing...more
February 1, 2022 Many businesses throughout the West Coast will soon start the process of phased returning to the workplace or have already welcomed employees back to workplaces to some extent. This requires employers to take...more