On February 27, the House passed SB 5793 on a 76-19 vote. The House did not amend the bill as it came from the Senate, so the bill has now passed the Legislature. It now goes to the Governor’s desk for signature.

Paid sick leave bill moves out of Senate with AWC-requested amendment

February 9, 2024

SB 5793 was passed off the Senate floor on a 28-21 vote. The Senate adopted an AWC-requested amendment clarifying that sick leave could be taken in response to school or childcare closures due to an emergency declared by local, state, or federal government, instead of during a “public emergency,” a term that was undefined by the bill or related statutes. AWC will continue to work on addressing other concerns that cities have with bill, including how it affects city staff who are essential to responding to an emergency and keeping cities out of the awkward position of deciding who counts as a city employee’s “family member.”

Dates to remember

SB 5793 is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on Wednesday, February 14 at 8 am. It is also scheduled for a committee vote on Friday, February 16 at 10:30 am.

Paid sick leave expansion making its way through the legislative process

February 7, 2024

A bill expanding Washington’s mandatory paid sick leave law is making its way through the Legislature. Both companion versions of the bill are currently sitting in their chambers’ respective rules committees waiting to be scheduled for floor votes before the February 13 House of Origin floor cutoff.

Companion bills HB 1991, sponsored by Rep. Mary Fosse (D–Everett), and SB 5793, sponsored by Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D–Seattle) expand the state’s mandatory paid sick leave law in several ways:

• Paid sick leave could now be taken at times when an employee’s childcare or school has been closed for health reasons or “public emergency.”
• The definition of “family member” is expanded to include child, grandchild, grandparent, sibling, spouse, or person who regularly resides in the employee’s home and relationship creates expectation of care. (This is similar to the definition that was adopted for Paid Family & Medical Leave in 2021.)
• The definition of “child” is expanded to include a child’s spouse.
• Similar changes are made to provisions specifically applicable to transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft.

The bills also require the Department of Labor & Industries to develop informational materials and do outreach to inform people about the expansion of sick leave. Both bills have an effective date of January 1, 2025.

AWC shared some concerns about the expansion covering school closures during a public emergency, which could include extreme weather events. AWC shared that this could create a staffing challenge when staff are most needed to report to work to help respond to the public emergency—to clear roads or restore utilities, for example. The bill does not define “public emergency,” which could lead to confusion for employees and employers. AWC will ask for clarification that the bill applies to an “officially declared public emergency” and explore further how it would apply to essential public employees.

Additionally, AWC has expressed concerns that the proposal puts employers in the awkward position of having to determine if an employee’s relationship with someone they live with meets the new definition of “family member.” AWC and other employer representatives suggested that a state agency should make that determination.

Washington’s Paid Sick Leave Law was passed by initiative in 2016 and requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. The law sets minimum accrual rates for sick leave, requires that it be paid at the same rate as the employee’s regular wage, establishes when an employee is eligible to take paid sick leave, and requires a certain amount of rollover for unused sick leave hours each year. Under current law, employees can take paid sick leave:

• For the employee’s own mental or physical health reasons, including recovering from illness or injury, or seeking diagnosis or treatment for a condition.
• For the employee to care for a family member with mental or physical health needs. “Family member” currently includes the employee’s child, parent, spouse/domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling.
• When the employee’s place of business or their child’s school or childcare facility has been closed by a public official for health reasons.
• When the employee qualifies under the Domestic Violence Leave Act.