Effective July 1, 2025, Washington State will protect employees from coercion based on immigration status. Specifically, Senate Bill 5104 prohibits employers from exploiting a worker’s immigration status in furtherance of the...more
Effective January 1, 2026, Washington SB 5101 will require employers to provide leave and safety accommodations to employees who are victims of a hate crime or have a family member who is a victim of a hate crime....more
6/4/2025
/ Discrimination ,
Domestic Violence ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Hate Crimes ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Washington
Effective January 1, 2027, SB 5217 expands Washington’s Healthy Starts Act (“Act”) to apply the law to employers of any size, require scheduling flexibility for postpartum appointments, mandate paid lactation accommodation...more
Washington employers take note: Significant changes to the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (WA PFML) law are on the horizon that will impact every employer in the Evergreen State. The bill amending the law, HB 1213,...more
It’s the season for legislative updates – and Washington State lawmakers are no exception. Job postings have recently been an area of focus in state and local laws. Two recent updates in Washington State impose new...more
As many Washington employers are acutely aware, there exists sparse statutory guidance on how employers must respond to personnel file requests by their employees – and no statutory definition of what constitutes a “personnel...more
5/23/2025
/ Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
New Legislation ,
Personnel Records ,
Private Right of Action ,
State Labor Laws ,
Termination ,
Washington
On April 25, 2025, Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1875 into law. The amendment will become effective July 27, 2025. The new law amends Revised Code of Washington § 49.46.210 to expand the reasons for...more
4/29/2025
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Immigration ,
Immigration Procedures ,
New Legislation ,
Paid Sick Leave ,
State Labor Laws ,
Washington
Spring has sprung in the State of Washington, and there are several new paid leave developments taking root. First, the Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave Act, which generally provides leave with partial wage...more
No, no, not who to vote for. Rather, employers should brush up on laws and regulations that entitle employees to time off to vote or to serve as an election official. What time off do you need to give employees?...more
Effective January 1, 2021, SB 1383 expands the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to cover smaller employers and provide access to leave for additional covered reasons....more
On September 9, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1867, a five-part bill that: (1) codifies existing COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (CPSL) requirements for certain food sector workers...more
On August 13, 2020, Governor Jay Inslee issued Proclamation 20-67: Food Production Workers Paid Leave. Proclamation 20-67 modifies previous proclamations to prohibit any food production employer from continuing to operate...more
8/28/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Supply ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act (MSPA) ,
Migrant Workers ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Seasonal Workers ,
Sick Leave ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
Dear Littler: A long-term San Francisco-based employee with our company is returning soon from maternity leave. In discussing her return date, she requested accommodations for expressing breast milk at work. After working...more
9/17/2019
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Breastfeeding ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Policies ,
Labor Regulations ,
Lactation Accommodation ,
Local Ordinance ,
Pregnancy Discrimination ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Dear Littler: Election Day is coming up in a few weeks, and I’ve been getting questions from our managers in various branches about voting-related leave for employees. Our company has operations in more than a dozen states,...more
Effective June 7, 2018, Washington State amended its domestic violence leave law to require employers to provide reasonable safety accommodations to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and to incorporate...more