In addition to a minimum wage increase, Initiative 1433 also included provisions for paid sick leave. Effective January 1, 2018, every employer with one or more employees (as defined in the Washington Minimum Wage Act which excludes certain categories of employees) must provide each employee paid sick leave as stated in the ‘Sick Leave Accrual” information below.
Because the Initiative is silent with respect to full time, part time, or temporary status, these classifications of employees likely also qualify for paid sick leave.
There are many unanswered questions about how this law will be applied and Washington State’s Department of Labor and Industries (“L&I”) will be responsible for answering many of these questions when it issues regulations via the rulemaking process this year. JDSA will be participating in the rulemaking process and updating our blog as important developments happen. L&I has held one meeting for interested stakeholders and has distributed stakeholder comments for review. The next meeting of stakeholders is scheduled for February 13, 2017 at L&I’s Headquarters in Tumwater, Washington.
If you are interested in following this process, you can sign up for email updates from L&I’s Wage and Hour list by subscribing to L&I’s Wage and Hour E-mail Listserv or by contacting Allison Drake at [email protected].
If you would like to submit comments, you can do one of the following:
- Send your feedback directly to L&I, or
- Submit your questions and concerns by contacting JDSA Law, and we will include them with our comments.
Sick Leave Accrual
Under the new law:
- Employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every forty hours worked
- Employees may use accrued paid sick leave beginning on the 90th calendar day after starting employment
- Employees may carry over up to 40 hours of sick leave per year