Due to average wage increase, workers' comp COLA is 3.4 percent for FY 2014
As I noted last month, the state average annual wage increased to $51,595 in 2012, which affects both the unemployment insurance weekly benefit amount and the taxable wage base. And, as the Department of Labor and Industries announced yesterday, it also affects workers’ compensation benefits. Time-loss and pension benefits will increase by 3.4 percent for […]
June 24 , 2013 - Emily Makings
DC audit of paid sick leave doesn't tell much about effects on business
Last week, the Economic Opportunity Institute and PubliCola linked to an audit of the DC Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008. Both posts say that the audit shows the “sky isn’t falling,” but it doesn’t actually show much at all. The audit’s look at paid sick leave’s effect on business is secondary to […]
June 12 , 2013 - Emily Makings
Increase in state average wage will impact unemployment insurance and workers' comp
Today the Employment Security Department announced that Washington’s average annual wage was $51,595 in 2012. That’s up from $49,894 in 2011. Both unemployment insurance (UI) and workers’ compensation benefits are calculated using the average annual wage. As the announcement notes, The minimum weekly unemployment benefit, calculated at 15 percent of the average weekly wage, will […]
June 06 , 2013 - Emily Makings
Public pension gain sharing and COLA cases will be heard together
According to the Department of Retirement Systems, The Washington State Supreme Court has agreed to accept direct review of litigation over discontinuation of annual benefit increases for retirees from two of the state’s older pension plans — and will hear that case in conjunction with arguments over a separate lawsuit related to gain sharing and […]
May 20 , 2013 - Emily Makings
Additional workers' comp reforms could help build up reserves
Bill Weaver, President and CEO of Canyon Creek Cabinet Company, has an op-ed in the Everett Herald about why workers’ compensation reforms passed by the Senate earlier this year are a good idea. As he writes, “continued workers’ compensation reform is a key element of our state’s economic competitiveness.” Further, To compete worldwide, we depend […]
May 17 , 2013 - Emily Makings
Why workers' comp benefits paid are the best indicator of system costs
As Dick noted on Wednesday, his column this week “debunks the charge that [business climate ranking] studies are bunk.” He also linked to the Washington Roundtable’s Benchmarks for a Better Washington, which look at how Washington does (compared to other states) on measures of innovation, quality of life, and business costs. Today, David Groves of […]
May 13 , 2013 - Emily Makings
Paid sick leave mandates banned as often as adopted
An article in Stateline notes that New York City has joined the handful of jurisdictions that require employers to provide paid sick leave for their employees. The article highlights the controversial nature of such mandates, which are in effect in San Francisco, Washington DC, Connecticut and Seattle. Portland adopted paid sick leave in March; it […]
May 03 , 2013 - Emily Makings
State Supreme Court will hear public pension gain sharing case
According to the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS), the state Supreme Court will hear the appeal in the gain sharing case. The court may also hear the case regarding public pension automatic cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). Gain sharing was established in 1998. Under the program, extraordinary investment returns were used to enhance retirement benefits for certain […]
April 16 , 2013 - Emily Makings
Epstein on the long-term consequences of paid sick leave
In a good column today, law professor Richard Epstein writes about paid sick leave mandates: The unintended consequence of paid-sick leave legislation, whether in New York City or elsewhere, will be to block the creation of new jobs by limiting the deals that employers and employees are lawfully allowed to make with each other. . […]
March 12 , 2013 - Emily Makings
May Washington's public pension system never be this interesting . . .
“Pensions are complicated, and when they are not causing huge problems, they are boring.” I’ve mentioned that Josh Barro line before, and I probably will again, because it’s pure truth. These days, pensions are certainly not boring, as the situation in Illinois illustrates spectacularly. Yesterday, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the state with securities […]