Several bills of interest to cities are up for hearing on Monday in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee. They include bills requiring minimum wage for public sector interns, creating new requirements and deadlines for public employers to provide
employee information to unions, and allowing workers to avoid their employer’s speech on political or religious issues.
Paid interns
SB 5327 is sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser (D–Kent). It requires state government,
local governments, and nonprofits receiving public funds to pay interns at least minimum wage for hours worked in the internship, regardless of whether or not the intern received academic credit for the internship. The intern’s wages would be
enforceable through the state’s regular wage & hour laws. The bill also authorizes the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) to adopt rules to implement the new paid intern requirements.
Employee information
SB 5273, sponsored by Sen. Javier Valdez (D – Seattle), requires
public employers to provide certain records to a public employee's exclusive bargaining representative (i.e. the employee’s union), including employee name and hire dates, contact information, and employment information like job title, worksite,
and salary. It requires employers to provide the information to the union for new hires within 10 days of the hire, and every 90 days for all employees in each bargaining unit. The bill allows the union to bring a court action to enforce the information
sharing requirements, and requires the public employer to pay costs and reasonable attorney fees for such actions.
There is a House companion, HB 1200, that was heard on January 20. It is scheduled for a committee vote later this
week.
AWC has heard concerns about the work involved in providing this data with the frequency the bills require. We are working with proponents to explore a less frequent and thus onerous requirement.
Employer speech
SB 5417, also sponsored by Sen. Keiser, prohibits employers from disciplining employees for their
refusal to attend an employer-sponsored meeting to discuss employer's opinion regarding religious or political matters, or otherwise be forced to listen or view the employer's speech on such matters. The bill includes exceptions for communications
the employer is required by law to communicate, information necessary to the employee's job or the employer’s managerial or supervisory duties, and casual conversations at work, among others. The bill exempts religious organizations. And in
what has become a theme in this year’s employment policy arena, the bill’s provisions are enforced by creating a civil cause of action that includes damages, attorney fees, and costs.
Cities already have limits to the types of religious and political speech that can be promoted in the city workplace, and public employers generally have First Amendment constitutional requirements for how to handle speech at work. However, the bill is
fairly vague on what kinds of conduct is prohibited and what is allowed. This is especially relevant for elected officials (including city council members or even state legislators themselves) – whose job is literally to promote their political
ideas – and how they can interact with their staff. AWC has reached out to seek clarification on this requirement. We believe the bill may have been drafted so that it inadvertently captures the situation where city staff couldn’t be required
to work on issues related to legislative proposals. We will continue to work on those clarifications.
Dates to remember
SB 5327, SB 5273, and SB 5417 are all scheduled for public hearings in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on Monday, January 23 at 10:30 am.
HB 1200 is scheduled for a committee vote in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on Friday, January 27 at 10:30 am.