It was a quiet but impactful legislative session for HR issues.
Unlike the 2021 session that saw a number of pandemic inspired policies, the 2022 legislative session was relatively
quiet on the HR & labor relations front, though a few larger issues did get some legislative attention.
The first major legislation of the session made its way through the process way back in late January with the passage of HB 1732 and HB 1733. These bills first delayed the implementation of the troubled WA Cares Fund long-term care program by 18 months, and then provided for several new exemptions for certain groups from the program’s controversial payroll tax. The program and the associated payroll tax will still need to be implemented in July 2023, and no new generally available opt-outs were passed, so a lot of work remains to bring the program fully online.
The next big HR issue this year included changes to how the state’s Paid Family & Medical Leave program addresses solvency issues as the popular program continues its growing pains. In mid-February, it became widely known that the PFML program was coming up against a cash flow problem that could have resulted in the program running out of cash to make benefits payments, had the Legislature not acted. But the Legislature did act, infusing $350 million into the PFML program in the final budget as an emergency reserve, and passing SB 5649, a bill that includes a number of new actuarial tools, audits, and reporting requirements to help the program address solvency issues. Work addressing the PFML solvency issue will continue during the interim and will be addressed in future legislative sessions.
A smattering of bills would have adjusted the state’s workers’ compensation policies, however, only limited bills to address calculating benefits for injured inmates and reopening workers’ comp claims made the cut.
Other workers’ comp bills addressing attorney fees during appeals, recording independent medical exams, and addressing the disparity of benefits based on marital status all failed to pass. Another bill that would have removed the state’s 20-year prohibition on ergonomics regulations also failed to gain enough traction to make it over the finish line.
You can see more about what HR and labor relations bills did and didn’t pass in our 2022 bill chart below.
Bill # | Description | Status |
|---|
HB 1732 | Delays the implementation of the WA Cares Fund long term services and supports program by 18 months. | Law; effective January 27, 2022. |
HB 1733 | Establishes new voluntary exemptions to the long term services and supports program for out-of-state residents, certain veterans and military families, and non-resident foreign workers. | Law; effective June 9, 2022. |
HB 1795 | Prohibiting nondisclosure agreements from preventing disclosure of illegal acts of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage & hour violations, and sexual assault. | Law; effective June 9, 2022. |
HB 1902 | Provides for reopening a workers’ comp claim when the provider fails to submit their materials, and allows benefits to cover a period up to 120 days prior to the application to reopen. | Passed; delivered to the Governor. |
SB 5649 | Modifying the PFML Act and addressing program solvency issues. | Passed; delivered to Governor. |
SB 5701 | Requires workers’ comp benefits for injured inmates or institutional patients to be based on non-institutional average wages rather than artificially low institutional wages. | Law; effective June 9, 2022. |
SB 5761 | Requires employers to include wage scales or salary ranges and general description of other benefits in job postings. | Passed; delivered to Governor. |
SB 5847 | Requires state to develop a program for state agencies to certify state workers for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and develop a plan to increase certifications for all public services workers. | Passed; delivered to the Governor. |
SB 5873 | Temporarily reducing unemployment insurance rates for employers. | Law; effective March 11, 2022. |
HB 1763 | Allowing the recording of independent medical exams. | Did not pass. |
HB 1837 | Removes the ban on state labor rules regulating work-related musculoskeletal injuries. | Did not pass. |
SB 5517 | Prohibits firing an employee or failing to hire a job candidate because of a positive cannabis drug test. | Did not pass. |
SB 5559 | Verifying paid sick leave for underinsured employees. | Did not pass. |
SB 5667 | Criminalizing the possession and use of falsified COVID-19 documents. | Did not pass. |
SB 5801 | Requiring employer to cover attorney fees for failed workers comp appeals. | Did not pass. |
SB 5835 | Requires study of the disparity in calculating workers’ comp benefits based on marital status. | Did not pass. |
SB 5900 | Creates provisional EMS certificates for new EMS workers with current out-of-state licenses. | Did not pass. |