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Possible changes to local employment policy laws?

The Seattle Times reports on a bill (SB 6578) from Sen. Michael Baumgartner that would forbid cities, towns and port districts from regulating wages, hours of work, employee retention, and leave for private employers. It would apply retroactively, so if passed, Seattle's $15 minimum wage and paid sick leave laws (for example) would be illegal. […]

How Washington's paid sick leave mandates differ by city

As I wrote Tuesday, Spokane will join Seattle, SeaTac and Tacoma in requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to their employees. The text of Spokane's ordinance, which is effective Jan. 1, 2017, has now been posted. The table below compares the key provisions of Spokane's ordinance to those of the other cities. There are […]

Paid sick leave and minimum wage action in Washington

Yesterday the Spokane City Council voted to require employers in the city to provide workers with paid sick leave. The city clerk has not yet produced the final text; the ordinance was amended and passed late last night. But the Spokesman-Review reports that employers with more than 10 employees would have to provide five days […]

If legal, how would unions fit in with Uber's business model?

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously to allow for-hire drivers to unionize, becoming the first city to do so. But Mayor Ed Murray has reservations, writing to the Council that City costs of administering the collective bargaining process remain unknown and the Council has placed the burden of significant rulemaking on City staff. Additionally, Because […]

Unionizing Uber?

This afternoon the Seattle City Council will vote on a proposal that would allow "taxicab, transportation network company, and for-hire vehicle drivers" to unionize. (Uber is an example of a transportation network company.) The proposed ordinance states, Business models wherein companies control aspects of their drivers’ work, but rely on the drivers being classified as […]

InFocus podcast: State employment, revenue forecast, charter schools & cell-phone taxes

A 2 percent increase in average workers' comp rates for 2016

The Department of Labor and Industries has announced that it will increase average workers' compensation rates by 2 percent next year. (This is the same as what they proposed in September.) As the Association of Washington Business noted in September, this is "nearly double what the department needs to break even.” Additionally, L&I will continue to do its part to keep […]

Employment policy roundup

Some employment policy-related items from the past few weeks: Yesterday Seattle Mayor Ed Murray proposed an ordinance that "harmonizes enforcement procedures, remedies key definitions in the Minimum Wage, Administrative Wage Theft, Paid Sick and Safe Time, and Job Assistance ordinances." (A summary of the various items within the proposal is here.) The proposal includes a private right of […]

New guidance from the Department of Labor for states setting up retirement savings plans

As the New York Times reports, several states have created state-based retirement savings plans. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has now issued guidance for states on the issue. According to the DOL press release, this is necessary because A lack of clarity of this area of the law has made other states reluctant to move forward […]

Speedy delivery and the retail workforce

The Seattle Times had an interesting story last week about how online shopping is changing holiday hiring. The National Retail Federation estimates that 46.1 percent of holiday sales this year will be made online. Thus: Amazon is expected to hire 25 percent more workers this holiday season than it did last year. About one out of seven […]