As we enter the final few weeks of the 2023 Legislative session, there a several HR & labor relations bills that cities should know about. Wednesday, April 12 was the opposite house floor cutoff, the deadline for most bills to pass out of the opposite chamber to remain alive for the remainder of session. Bills that leave the opposite house with amendments different from the house of origin will require the House and Senate to reconcile differences before sine die on April 23.

For those needing a schoolhouse rock refresher on legislative process, for a bill to pass the legislature, the same version of the same bill needs to be voted out of both the House and Senate before it can go to the Governor for signature or veto.

We review some of the bills we’ve been tracking this session below.

Bills passed the Legislature

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%, and makes other changes. The bill passed out of the Senate on February 1 with a unanimous vote. It then passed the House without further amendments on April 6. It now heads to the Governor’s desk.

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. It passed the House on April 7 with a 51-46 vote. It now goes to the Governor’s desk.

Bills needing agreement between the House and Senate

PFML claims data

SB 5586 permits ESD to share certain records on an employee’s PFML claim with “interested parties” (like employers) including the type of leave taken and approved dates/duration of leave. AWC supports this bill. The bill passed out of the Senate on March 1 with a unanimous vote. The House also passed the bill unanimously, but made some amendments, including removing data on the employee’s remaining hours of leave, their weekly benefit amount, and actual benefits paid/hours claimed from the list of data ESD is allowed to share with employers. The House amendments also allow employers to access information on whether the employee was approved for and received benefits for any given week.

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. The House adopted amendments that exempt law enforcement, fire departments, first responders, and corrections officers from the bill. It passed out of the House on a 57-41 vote on March 29.

Union-member privilege

HB 1187 creates a new legal privilege between union members and their unions. AWC has a position of “other” on the bill, supporting some level of protected confidentiality for union members, but with concerns about the broad privilege in this bill. Concerns include its effect on a city’s ability to fairly defend itself in court, its impact on cities’ ability to take action against workplace misconduct, and the need to clarify that it is the employee that holds the privilege. The Senate adopted amendments exempting mandatory reporting requirements and passed the bill with a 34-14 vote on April 7.

“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. HB 1521 passed out of the House on March 1 with a 69-27 vote. AWC was able to negotiate some Senate amendments to the bill to narrow its scope. The bill now only applies to municipal self-insured employers in exchange for removing the bill’s private right of action. It passed the Senate on a 32-17 vote on April 10.

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. Some amendments were made in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee, and the bill was voted out of the Senate on a 31-16 vote on April 7.

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. Some Senate committee amendments were adopted exempting employers whose US Dept. of Defense clearance specifically prohibits disclosing employee records, that such exclusions don’t limit an employer’s duty to bargain in good faith, and clarifies that unions cannot sell provided employee information or use it for commercial purposes. It passed the Senate on April 12 on a 29-20 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. Senate committee amendments were adopted that makes the bill part of the prohibited labor practices statues instead of the Industrial Welfare Act and removes the sections authorizing L&I to do specific rulemaking from the bill. It was voted out of the Senate on April 11 with a 45-4 vote.

Wage complaints

HB 1217 permits requires 1% per month interest upon receipt of an employee wage complaint if an employer is given the option to resolve a wage complaint without citation and notice of assessment. The employee is permitted to request a waiver or reduction of interest as part of the settlement process. Senate committee amendments changed the structure of the interest rate’s application, and a floor amendment makes the bill effective January 1, 2024. It was voted out of the Senate on a 33-16 vote on April 12.

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. Senate floor amendments were adopted that change how the good cause separation is charged to employers’ experience ratings, that separations due to the employee’s inability to find child or adult dependent care will not be charged to employer experience ratings, and makes the inaccessible care provisions effective only from July 7, 2024 to July 2, 2028, and requires ESD to report on unemployment claims related to inaccessible child or adult dependent care. It was voted out of the Senate on April 6 with a 26-20 vote.

Dead bills (due to earlier cutoffs)

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. Amendments were adopted to slightly increase the response time to 15 business days and remove requirements that personnel files be unredacted. The bill also establishes penalties for failure to timely turn over records and allows employees to sue to obtain the records. It did not get voted out of the Senate Ways & Means committee ahead of the fiscal committee cutoff. The bill is referenced in the House budget and could be revived.

Flexible work for police

SB 5424 allowed part-time officers to participate in the LEOFF 2 pension system and exercise full mutual aid police powers as either general or limited authority peace officers. It also allowed law enforcement agencies to adopt flexible work policies for police. It was never voted out of House Appropriations ahead of last week’s fiscal committee cutoff.

Employer political and religious speech

SB 5417 prohibited an employer from disciplining or discharging an employee for refusal to attend an employer-sponsored meeting, listen to speech, or view communications, to communicate the employer's religious or political opinion. It was never voted out of the Senate ahead of the midsession cutoffs.

Police and prosecutor qualifications

SB 5274 allows hiring of lawful permanent residents as police officers or prosecutors and also eliminates English language proficiency requirements for city fire departments, city police departments, and other agencies. The bill passed out of the Senate in March, but failed to pass out of the House ahead of cutoff.

Reimbursement of employees

HB 1136 requires employers to reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures and losses incurred in direct consequence of their duties. It was never voted out of the House before the midsession cutoff.

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.