Governor Jay Inslee signed ESHB 2076 into law on March 31, 2022, making Washington the first state to require minimum per-trip payments, paid sick leave, and workers’ compensation benefits for rideshare drivers. The law also...more
As a matter of first impression, on April 7, 2022, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel held that two related employers may be treated as one integrated employer to meet the 15-employee headcount threshold...more
A judge for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, on March 17, 2022, denied defendant Scribe Opco, Inc.’s motion to dismiss a class action alleging violations of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining...more
4/26/2022
/ Appeals ,
But For Causation ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Florida ,
Layoff Notices ,
Layoffs ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Natural Disasters ,
WARN Act ,
Written Notice
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act in a 235-189 vote. According to the bill, passed on March 18, 2022, the long-standing racial and national origin...more
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the Silenced No More Act (Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1795) on March 24, 2022, making Washington the second state in the nation after California to prohibit employers from...more
4/6/2022
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Governor Inslee ,
Independent Contractors ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Non-Disparagement Provisions ,
Pre-Employment Agreements ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sexual Assault ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Washington
Washington Governor Jay Inslee, on March 30, 2022, signed into law amendments to the state’s Equal Pay and Opportunity Act (EPOA Amendments), which soon will require most Washington employers to include pay ranges and...more
4/4/2022
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Equal Pay Act ,
Governor Inslee ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Transparency ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington
On February 2, 2022, Republican Governor Tate Reeves signed the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act (Act), which legalizes medical marijuana for the treatment of certain debilitating conditions. Those debilitating conditions...more
The Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) recently announced it will conduct an administrative rulemaking process related to the city’s new Independent Contractors Protections (ICP) ordinance. OLS will hold five virtual...more
The Washington Legislature made several significant changes to the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program during the 2021 legislative session that all Washington employers should know. First, as of July 25,...more
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued its long-awaited emergency temporary standard (ETS) requiring all employers with a total of 100 or more employees to mandate...more
11/8/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Federal Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Masks ,
OSHA ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Exemption ,
Remote Working ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing ,
Workplace Safety
In Port of Tacoma v. Sacks, the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington recently held that all out-of-town employee travel time is compensable under state law. The decision confirms the Washington State Department of...more
10/5/2021
/ Appeals ,
Compensation ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Travel Time ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington
Overview of ESD Audits -
The Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) audits records of employers located in Washington to confirm that wages and hours are accurately reported and to ensure compliance with the...more
10/5/2021
/ Audits ,
Best Practices ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Independent Contractors ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Wage and Hour ,
Washington
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA) on May 11, 2021. HELSA went into effect immediately and applies to workplaces only during a declared public health emergency involving an...more
9/23/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Inslee ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Workplace Safety
The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) filed a new emergency rule on July 16, 2021, that provides increased protection to employees who are exposed to wildfire smoke. The rule took effect immediately, though enforcement...more
On April 16, 2021, Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the Washington Wage Recovery Act, allowing employees to place a lien on their employers’ property to secure unpaid wages.
The purpose of the law is to provide...more
6/24/2021
/ Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Governor Inslee ,
Liens ,
New Legislation ,
Property Liens ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Wage and Hour
Governor Jay Inslee recently signed the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act (HELSA or the Act), a sweeping worker protection bill recently passed by the state legislature. The Act amends the state’s worker’s compensation and...more
6/7/2021
/ Governor Inslee ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Reporting Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
Workers Compensation Act
In response to last year’s groundbreaking decision by the Washington State Supreme Court in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy, Inc., the state legislature recently passed Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5172 (SB5172),...more
5/19/2021
/ Agribusiness ,
Agricultural Sector ,
Agricultural Workers ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Labor Regulations ,
Minimum Wage ,
Non-Exempt Employees ,
Over-Time ,
Retroactive Application ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
State Legislatures ,
WA Supreme Court ,
Wage and Hour
In 2019, Washington passed the first law in the nation requiring employees to fund a state-operated long-term care insurance program. The program, codified at RCW 50B.04 and set to begin on January 1, 2025, will be funded by...more
Since July 2018, Washington businesses have been operating under Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA). The EPOA, which significantly expanded the state’s 1943 Equal Pay Act, is one of the most stringent equal...more
On February 3, 2021, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan signed into law a new ordinance requiring grocery employers to provide their employees an additional $4.00/hour in hazard pay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The law went into...more
2/18/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Employees ,
Covered Employer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Grocery Stores ,
Hazard Pay ,
Labor Law Violations ,
State and Local Government ,
Wage and Hour ,
Written Notice
More than thirty years ago, the Washington Supreme Court ruled defense counsel may not engage in ex parte communications with a plaintiff’s treating physician. Loudon v. Mhyre, 110 Wn.2d 675, 676 (1988). The Loudon rule, as...more
12/22/2020
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Privilege ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Ex-Parte Communications ,
Health Care Providers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Physician-Patient Confidentiality ,
Physicians ,
Privileged Communication ,
WA Supreme Court
In a 5-4 decision, a divided Washington Supreme Court ruled that dairy workers are entitled to overtime pay under Washington law if they work more than 40 hours a week, nullifying an exemption to the Washington Minimum Wage...more
One year after New York City did the same, Seattle enacted an ordinance in 2019 that guarantees a minimum wage for local rideshare drivers. Following an independent city-commissioned study that determined the exact amount...more
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated its guidance, What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws, on September 8, 2020, to create a comprehensive guide for...more
9/22/2020
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Confidentiality Policies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Discrimination ,
EEO ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Guidance Update ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Screening Procedures ,
Virus Testing
As new unemployment claims rise, impostors seek to scam the unemployment system at the cost of the state, employees, and employers. Here’s how to respond to, and lower the risk of, fraudulent unemployment claims.
Spike in...more