Read this updated snapshot of some HR and labor relations bills we’ve been covering this session and where they stand. The 2022 legislative session is coming down the stretch with the second set of committee cutoff dates now behind us, further narrowing the universe of bills that can still be considered by the Legislature before the end of session on March 10.

February 24 and 28 are what is known as “opposite house” policy and fiscal cutoffs, where Senate bills being considered by the House must be passed out of the House’s policy and fiscal committees, and vice versa. Following these committee cutoffs, the next deadline is March 4, the opposite house floor cutoff, the deadline for each chamber to pass out the other chamber’s bills that are still alive. As of now, most committee action will cease, except for budgets and other bills exempt from cutoffs. Legislators will spend most of their time on the floor in a mad scramble to pass as many bills out as they can. After March 4, lawmakers will have just six days to work out any final details for pending legislation and pass final versions before the session ends Sine Die.

Long term care

HB 1732 and HB 1733, which delay the WA Cares Fund program by 18 months and create new exemptions, already passed and were signed into law, as we discussed here.

Paid leave & unemployment insurance

PFML program changes
SB 5649 originally allowed people that had been previously approved for Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) to temporarily keep benefits if the person they were taking leave to care for died. The bill has been amended to include premium cost reductions and now primarily addresses program solvency issues that recently came to light, as we discuss here. The House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee added minor amendment allowing the program to share data with OFM and JLARC for the purposes of implementing the bill. The final operating budget is likely to also include a $350-$400 million infusion of general fund dollars into the PFML program to address any solvency issues before the Legislature can make permanent fixes in 2023.

SB 5649 was heard in the House Appropriations Committee on February 25.

UI rate relief
SB 5873 lowers the Unemployment Insurance social cost factor to 0.5% (from 0.75%) in 2022 and to 0.7% (from 0.8%) in 2023. This will reduce the UI premium rates for those years.

SB 5873 was voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on February 18 and is waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote in the House.

Workers’ compensation

Workers’ comp litigation costs
SB 5801 requires L&I to pay both a worker’s attorney fees and litigation costs if a court reverses or changes a Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals decision on appeal, rather than the “reasonable” attorney fees set by the court under current law. It similarly requires a self-insured employer or retrospective rating group to cover the worker’s legal fees and costs if the employer or retro group appeals a board decision and a court upholds the board’s decision.

SB 5801 was voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on February 22 and is now waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote in the House.

Change of circumstance look backs
HB 1902 allows L&I or a self-insured employer to look back beyond 60 days for calculating benefits if the application to reopen a claim for a “change of circumstance” was delayed because the medical provider failed to complete the provider section of the application in a timely manner. The injured worker must have also submitted the worker information section of the application to L&I, their self-insured employer (if applicable), or the treating provider within 30 days of receiving the treatment necessitated by the change in circumstance. The Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee added an amendment to limit the look back to a maximum of 120 days prior to the receipt of the application to reopen a claim.

HB 1902 was voted out of the Senate Labor, Commerce, Tribal Committee on February 23, and is waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate.

Benefits calculations for jailed workers
SB 5701 requires that when an inmate, resident, or patient at a state or local government correctional or treatment facility is injured on-the-job (like when participating in a community service or work release program), their workers’ compensation be computed based on the usual wages paid to employees in similar work outside of a correctional or institutional setting, rather than the injured inmate’s own (likely artificially low) institutional wages.

SB 5701 was voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on February 23 and is waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote in the House.

Other HR bills

Ergonomics ban repeal
HB 1837 repeals a 19-year ban on L&I crafting rules regulating work-related musculoskeletal injuries like carpal tunnel. We previously wrote about the bill here. The bill was voted out of the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on February 24 with amendments to the bill’s intent section and limiting L&I’s ability to regulate musculoskeletal injuries to rules for one industry per year until 2027. The aim of the amendment was to force L&I to focus rules on industries most impacted by ergonomics issues, rather than attempt one-size-fits-all ergonomics rules.

HB 1837 is waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate.

Provisional EMS certifications
SB 5900 creates a provisional license for all levels of out-of-state emergency medical services professionals (including EMTs and paramedics) that are hired to work in Washington, if they are already certified or licensed by another state or national certification recognized by the Washington Department of Health.

SB 5900 was voted out of the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on February 23 and is waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote in the House.

Student loan forgiveness notifications
SB 5847 requires public employers to annually provide employees informational materials about the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. It requires the state Student Loan Advocate to develop informational materials on the PSLF program for employers to distribute. It also requires OFM to develop a program for public employers to certify employment for their employees’ using PSLF. The House College & Workforce Development Committee added a few clarifying amendments before voting the bill out of committee on February 21.

SB 5847 is waiting to be scheduled for a hearing in the House Appropriations Committee.

Nondisclosure agreements
HB 1795 makes provisions of nondisclosure agreements unenforceable if they prohibit disclosure of illegal discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour violations, sexual assault, or other activities clearly against public policy occurring in the workplace.

HB 1795 passed out of the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on February 23 and is waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote in the Senate.