Response to the pandemic resulted in a variety of bills introduced to provide additional employee protections and benefits. While you may have assumed that the pandemic would have meant a quieter session, it didn’t turn out to be the case. Legislators
proposed a number of bills revolving around employee safety in light of the pandemic. Additional proposals focused on expanding coverage of certain programs like Paid Family Medical Leave. In most cases, bills were initially introduced with broad
changes to programs or policies and were eventually whittled down to more specific and narrow modifications.
One area of note is limited expansions to the Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) program through two bills, HB 1073 and
SB 5097. In the case of HB 1073, it temporarily expands coverage for employees impacted by the pandemic. SB 5097 makes permanent changes to expand the definition of “family member” under
the program, while also requiring work be done to analyze program data with an eye toward further expansion of the program in the future.
Several bills address employee safety during a health emergency. Particularly noteworthy is SB 5115, which creates a new occupational disease presumption for infections for frontline workers during a health emergency. Frontline workers
include city employee categories like first responders and transit workers, among others.
Concerns about the impact of pandemic-driven layoffs and furloughs to public employees led the Legislature to pass SB 5021 to protect pension benefits for those affected. Similar to action taken during the Great Recession, the bill protects
pension benefits for public employees who were subject to layoffs, furloughs and other lost service hours that may have occurred.
Finally, the Legislature adopted several bills aimed at police reform, including SB 5055. It which makes changes to how arbitrators for police discipline grievance cases will be selected in the future. The bill directs PERC to create
a cadre of dedicated arbiters with specific training and selection requirements to hear these cases beginning in 2022.
HR & labor relations bills
Bill # | Description | Status |
|---|
HB 1016 | Makes Juneteenth (June 19), which celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S., a state legal holiday. | Signed by Governor. Effective July 25, 2021. |
HB 1073 | Temporarily provides alternative PFML eligibility metrics to people whose work hours were impacted by COVID shutdowns. | Signed by Governor. Effective immediately. |
HB 1206 | Increases protections and safety training requirements for temporary employees, to be provided by employers and staffing agencies. | Signed by Governor. Effective July 25, 2021. |
HB 1323 | Requires employees wishing to opt out of Long-Term Services and Supports program to have obtained alternative long-term care coverage by November 1, 2021. | Signed by Governor. Effective July 25, 2021. |
SB 5055 | Establishes specialized law enforcement arbitrator roster at PERC that must be used in grievance arbitrations for law enforcement. | Signed by Governor. Effective July 25, 2021. |
SB 5061 | Governor’s unemployment insurance bill that lowers UI tax rates for employers, improves benefits, and adds flexibility to UI program to respond to COVID and other emergencies. | Signed by Governor. Effective immediately. |
SB 5097 | Expands definition of “family member” for PFML program and requires ESD and PFML advisory committee to collect and analyze certain program data and submit report to Legislature. | Signed by Governor. Effective July 25, 2021 |
SB 5115 | Creates workplace infection presumption for frontline workers during a health emergency and requires employers to report infection rates to L&I. | Signed by Governor. Effective immediately. |
SB 5254 | Requires employers to allow the use of PPE during health emergencies. | Signed by Governor. Effective immediately. |
SB 5478 | Provides additional UI experience tax rate relief for certain employers. | Signed by Governor. Effective immediately. |
HB 1076 | Creates a private right-of-action allowing plaintiffs to sue in the name of the state for alleged employment law violations (known as qui tam actions). | Did not pass. |
SB 5102 | Limits independent medical exams for workers’ comp claims, requires written notice of scheduled exam, and permits workers to record and have independent observer industrial insurance medical exams. | Did not pass. |
SB 5134 | Eliminates grievance arbitrations for law enforcement in favor of civil service commission or administrative law judge hearings. Prohibits specified police practices and policies from being included in law enforcement CBAs. | Did not pass. |
SB 5137 | Suspends workers comp COLAs until 2022 and caps future COLAs to 3% | Did not pass. |
SB 5436 | Prevents contents of police ombuds reports from being excluded from police discipline cases. | Did not pass. |
Pensions bills
Bill # | Description | Status |
|---|
SB 5021 | Eliminates impact of COVID work stoppages and shutdowns on public employee pensions. | Signed by Governor. Effective July 25, 2021. |
SB 5367 | Automatic refunds of contributions for unvested public retirement accounts | Signed by Governor. Effective July 25, 2021. |
HB 1565 | Authorizes a 1.5% COLA increase for PERS 1, paid for by 0.04% supplemental employer contribution. | Did not pass. |
SB 5336 | LEOFF 1 documentation of covered medical expenses to members. | Did not pass. |
SB 5352 | Allowing new public employees who are 60 or older to opt out of enrollment in public pension plan. | Did not pass. |
SB 5453 | Merging LEOFF 1 and TRS 1 plans, and defines benefits covered by Benefits Improvement Account. | Did not pass. |