HR & labor relations bills past the halfway point

Here we review a few of the HR & labor relations related bills that have made it past the House of Origin cutoff so far.

At 5 pm this Wednesday (March 8), the Legislature will pass the procedural halfway point of session, the “House of Origin” cutoff. That is the deadline by which most House bills must be voted out of the House and most Senate bills voted out of the Senate and sent to the opposite chamber to remain “alive” for the remainder of session. While some bills are still pending, here we review some of the bills that have made it so far.

Bills that have passed their house of origin

Independent medical exams: HB 1068 allows an injured worker to make an audio and video recording of an independent medical examination, and to have one person of the worker's choosing present during the examination. It passed out of the House on a 65-33 vote on February 15.

PFML premiums: SB 5286 adopts the recommendations of the PFML premiums task force and changes the formula used for calculating PFML premiums, raises the premiums cap to 1.2%, makes other changes. The bill passed out of the Senate on February 1 with a unanimous vote.

PFML claims data: SB 5586 permits ESD share certain records on an employee’s PFML claim with “interested parties” (like employers) including: the type of leave taken, approved dates/duration of leave, the employee’s remaining hours of leave left, their weekly benefit amount, and actual benefits paid/hours claimed. AWC supports this bill. The bill passed out of the Senate on March 1 with a unanimous vote.

“Good faith” for self-insured employers: HB 1521 creates a duty of “good faith” for self-insured employers and their third-party administrators towards workers in self-insured workers’ compensation programs, with penalties for violating good faith. They also allow L&I to write rules outlining those duties and require L&I to investigate and order resolution of claims. AWC opposes these bills. The Senate companion, SB 5524, was amended to only apply to municipal self-insured employers but has not yet come up for a Senate floor vote. HB 1521 passed out of the House on March 1 with a 69-27 vote.

Ergonomic injuries rules: SB 5217 repeals I-841 (2003) and permits L&I to adopt rules regarding musculoskeletal injuries, up to one set of rules per year per industry or risk class. The bill includes limits on L&I’s rulemaking authority to prevent rapid adoption of rules in industries that didn’t previously have them. The bill passed out of the Senate on a 27-21 vote on March 1.

Employee personnel records: HB 1320 requires employers to turn over a complete copy of an employee’s personnel records (or a statement of discharge) to current or former employees on request within 14 calendar days and establishes penalties for failure to do so. AWC has concerns but has been working to improve the bill – we continue to ask for a longer time frame to comply. We have asked for at least 30 calendar days. It passed out of the House on March 1 with a 56-40 vote.

Providing employee info to unions: HB 1200 requires public employers to provide certain employee records to public employee unions. Employers have 21 days to provide information on new hires, and every 120 days for all employees in each bargaining unit. AWC had concerns about the early bill drafts but was able to improve the bill in committee. It passed out of the House on a 56-41 vote on March 2.

Cannabis use & hiring: SB 5123 prohibits employers from “discriminating against a person in the initial hiring” for the job candidate’s off-the-job, out-of-the-workplace cannabis use or for failing an employer-required drug test for cannabis. It also provides a number of exemptions. The bill passed out of the Senate on February 22 on a 28-21 vote.

Employee vehicle searches: HB 1491 prohibits employers from searching an employee's privately owned vehicle located on the employer's premises. It also specifies that employees are permitted to keep any legal private property in their vehicle while on the employer's premises. The bill includes a list of exceptions. It passed out of the House on an 87-10 vote.

Voluntary separations: HB 1106 expands access to unemployment insurance benefits by adding circumstances where a person may voluntarily quit for good cause, including the death, illness, or disability of a family member, or for inability to access care for a child or vulnerable adult.

Wage complaints: HB 1217 permits L&I to demand all wages owed plus 1% per month interest upon receipt of an employee wage complaint. Interest is mandatory unless waived by the employee. It also establishes an L&I workgroup on wage theft.

Pending bills

Police and prosecutor qualifications: HB 1530 permits law enforcement agencies prosecutor offices to consider US citizens and lawful permanent residents for employment as police officers and deputy prosecutors. A similar bill, SB 5274, allows hiring of lawful permanent residents and also eliminates English language proficiency requirements for city fire departments, city police departments, and other agencies.

Employer political and religious speech: SB 5417 prohibits an employer from disciplining or discharging an employee for refusal to attend an employer-sponsored meeting, listen to speech, or view communications, when the primary purpose of which is to communicate the employer's opinion concerning religious or political matters.

Reimbursement of employees: HB 1136 requires employers to reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures and losses incurred in direct consequence of their duties within 30 days and makes failure to do so a Wage Payment Act violation enforced by L&I.

Dead bills (due to earlier cutoffs)

Repealing WA Cares Fund: HB 1011 would have repealed the new WA Cares Fund long term care program, premiums for which start in July. The bill never received a hearing or committee vote and died.

COVID-19 as an occupational disease: HB 1785 would have made pandemic emergency-era COVID-19 a presumptive occupational disease for the purposes of workers’ compensation if a worker could show their employment conditions lead to their infection. The bill was never voted out of committee.

Lunar New Year holiday: HB 1516, would have established a new state legal holiday for the Lunar New Year. The bill was never voted out of House Appropriations.

Childcare as a travel expense: SB 5485 would have permitted state and local governments to reimburse employees for reasonable childcare or adult dependent care expenses incurred while doing reimbursable work-related travel. The bill was never voted out of Senate Ways & Means.

Paid interns: SB 5327 would have required state & local governments and certain nonprofits to pay interns at least minimum wage, regardless of whether the intern received academic credit. The bill was never voted out of committee.