The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) takes effect on June 27, 2023. With the passage of the PFWA, private employers with at least 15 employees must make accommodations for pregnancies, not just pregnancy-related conditions rising to the level of disability. The accommodations include flexibl...
As temperatures rise year after year, so does the risk of incurring a heat-related health issue or injury — especially for those who work outside.
In the summers of 2021 and 2022, the Washington State Department of L&I filed emergency rules to protect outdoor workers’ health from ambi...
This year, state Senator Manka Dhingra, a Democrat representing Redmond, introduced Senate Bill 5217. This bill would repeal a current prohibition that prevents Labor and Industries (L&I), Washington State from enacting rules designed to lower the risk of workplace musculoskeletal disorders,...
In 2022, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed into law the Silenced No More Act (HB1795), which limits the use of workplace non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements, commonly known as NDAs. Under the new law, employees and independent contractors throughout Washington State can no longer be...
As summer temperatures begin to climb across Washington state, a new set of emergency worker protection heat wave rules issued by the Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) are taking effect to protect workers during excessive heat warnings.
The emergency rules, developed in ...
Firing pregnant workers who can’t perform certain job duties like lifting heavy objects is against the law. But that didn’t stop a pair of FedEx contractors from terminating pregnant delivery driver Sarai Alhasawi when she asked for accommodation during her pregnancy in 2018.
Washington state...
President Donald Trump on Saturday signed executive orders replacing the expired $600 weekly unemployment benefit with $400 per week and deferring payroll taxes after Congress missed a Friday deadline to iron out those and other details in a new coronavirus relief package.
The $600 weekly federal...
Seattle’s thriving tech hub has earned it the reputation as a sort of Silicon Valley of the Pacific Northwest in recent years, owing in large part to the growth of cloud computing. Startups and tech giants alike have flocked to the Seattle area to scoop up talent churning out of the creator and ...
About two years after launching an initiative to eliminate "no-poach" agreements that franchise operators have used to restrict worker wages and mobility in Washington state, Attorney General Bob Ferguson said his office has succeeded in that effort.
In a report released Tuesday, Ferguson said mi...
Workers in Washington state are set to benefit from a range of new laws in 2020. From nation-leading minimum wages and overtime benefits to unprecedented restrictions on noncompete agreements, Washington is in many ways a great place to be employed.
But as many of those new worker protection la...