Blog

Workers’ comp rates may decrease 5 percent in 2019

The Department of Labor & Industries has proposed that average workers’ compensation rates decrease 5 percent next year. According to L&I, this means that premiums paid would drop by a total of $136 million. L&I says, “employers and workers focusing on safety, and L&I initiatives that are helping injured workers recover sooner and reducing workers’ compensation […]

Washington’s average annual wage now tops $60,000

The Employment Security Department (ESD) reports that the state’s average annual wage was $61,887 in 2017—a 5 percent increase over 2016. According to ESD, “The industries with the largest average wage growth in 2017 were retail trade, up 14.5 percent; information, up 8.2 percent; and accommodation and food services, up 6.9 percent.” A number of […]

Seattle’s 2018 work program includes several fiscal and employment policy issues

Last week the Seattle City Council adopted its work program for 2018. The Council’s committees will be working on several issues that may be of interest, including the items below. The Finance & Neighborhoods Committee will “develop and oversee the contract with a consultant to study the feasibility of establishing a City-owned public bank.” (This […]

Private-sector union membership increased in Washington in 2017

Last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the national union membership rate was 10.7 percent in 2017—the same rate as in 2016. In Washington, the union membership rate was 18.7 percent in 2017, up from 17.4 percent in 2016. For 2017, Washington has the third-highest union membership rate in the nation. Professors Barry […]

Paid sick leave rules have been adopted

Last month the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) released the final rules for paid sick leave in Washington. Voters approved I-1433 in 2016; the initiative increased the minimum wage and mandated that all employers provide paid sick leave. Paid sick leave will accrue beginning Jan. 1, 2018. Lane Powell has a good summary of […]

Workers’ comp benefit costs are highest in Washington, for the eighth year running

Last week the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) released its annual report on workers’ compensation benefits, coverage, and costs across states. For 2015 (there’s a two-year lag), Washington’s benefit costs were $788.62 per covered worker. This was the highest in the country, followed by California ($751.70) and Alaska ($719.93). Although Washington’s benefit costs have […]

Workers’ comp rates could decrease next year

The Department of Labor and Industries is proposing that average workers’ compensation rates decrease by 2.5 percent in 2018. If the proposal is adopted in December, it will be the first average rate reduction since 2007. (Rates increased by an average of 0.7 percent in 2017 and 2 percent in 2016.) The announcement from L&I […]

Taking vetoes into account, the budget doesn’t balance over four years (plus, a note on minimum wage disemployment effects)

The Legislature passed a 2017–19 operating budget that balanced over four years; an outlook prepared for the compromise indicated unrestricted ending fund balances of $985 million in 2017–19 and $42 million in 2019–21. But those figures were based on the proposed compromise—they didn’t include any changes made by Legislators prior to voting on the budget on June […]

Novel research adds to our understanding of Seattle’s minimum wage

The UW team that is studying the impacts of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance released a study yesterday that finds that the increase to $13 last year (for some large employers) resulted in reduced hours for low-wage workers, which had the net effect of lowering their earnings by $125 a month on average. This study is […]

Study finds minimal impacts from Seattle minimum wage law, but the jury’s still out

A new study from Michael Reich, Sylvia Allegretto, and Anna Godoey of the University of California, Berkeley looks at the effects of Seattle’s minimum wage ordinance. The headline finding is that, as the Seattle Times puts it, “Seattle’s minimum-wage law has led to higher pay for restaurant workers without affecting the overall number of jobs […]