HB 2127 passed out of the Senate on February 29 with a unanimous vote. The bill was not amended on its trip through the chamber, so it has now passed the Legislature and goes to the Governor for signature.

Stay-at-work bill moves out of the House, sees action in the Senate

February 16, 2024

HB 2127, as amended by the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee, was unanimously approved by the House on February 6. It was heard in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on February 15 and is scheduled to be voted out of committee this week ahead of the second policy committee cutoff.

AWC has identified a few issues with the current version of the bill. One is that, while basic skills training may be a good idea, there are no guardrails that limit it to instances where returning to the original job is unlikely. Another is that basic skills training in the bill is not considered a “transferrable skill” for the purpose of vocational rehabilitation services, which means it can’t be considered when making determinations about an employee’s ability to work.

Dates to remember

HB 2127 is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on Monday, February 19 at 10:30 am.

Stay-at-work bill advances out of committee

January 26, 2024

HB 2127 was unanimously voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on January 24 with a minor amendment. The bill now heads to the House Rules Committee to be considered for scheduling a floor vote. The amendment tweaks the bill’s basic skills development provisions to allow employees to participate in both basic skills development at the same time as light duty work or jobs taken under the stay-at-work program. Consistent with this change, the amendment clarifies that L&I can authorize payments for basic skills training prior to or during vocational plan development.

Comprehensive stay-at-work bill makes changes to reimbursements and programs

January 12, 2024

The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) stay-at-work program is an incentive program that aims to get employers to employ injured workers with medically approved light duty jobs so the employee can remain gainfully employed while they recover from their on-the-job injury.

HB 2127, sponsored by Rep. Suzanne Schmidt (R–Spokane Valley), comes at the request of the L&I. The bill makes several changes to the stay-at-work program:

• Increases the reimbursement for employers participating in stay-at-work program to 50% of the injured worker’s basic gross wages paid for their light duty work for up to 120 workdays (up from 66 days) and raises cap for the stay-at-work program subsidy to $25,000 per claim.
• Increases employer reimbursements to $2000 for instructional materials, $1000 for providing additional work clothing, and $5000 for equipment to train and equip stay-at-work a worker for the light duty job offered.
• Authorizes program funds to be used for authorized basic skills development programs for injured workers like English language and computer literacy, GED training, necessary technology or software for basic skills programs, and “other skills that prepare an injured worker for gainful employment,” though travel and accommodation costs are explicitly excluded.
• Sets forth how funds can be distributed and how the basic skills training interacts with other L&I programs for injured workers.
• Increases one-time payment to employers to $25,000 for 12 months of continuous employment of workers receiving vocational rehabilitation services under the return-to-work program.
• Increases subsidy to $10,000 for necessary accommodations needed to employ an injured worker.
• Increases reimbursement to $10,000 for job modification costs necessary to bring back injured workers under the stay-at-work program.

Dates to remember

HB 2127 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on Tuesday, January 16 at 10:30 pm.