Hospitals are encouraged to review overtime policies and seek legal assistance in remaining compliant.
New laws will impact employment in the state of Washington in 2025.
Minimum Wage
Minimum wage for any worker aged 16 or older is now $16.66/hour. Workers aged 14 to 15 are entitled to 85% of this amount.
Overtime Exemption
The salary threshold dictating when a laborer can forego overtime pay has risen. Employers who employ 50 or fewer people have this threshold set to $1,332.80/week while employers of 51+ employees have a threshold of $1,499.40/week.
Non-Compete Agreements
This employment limitation can only be invoked upon workers earning more than $123,394.17/year or, if they are independent contractors, $308,485.43/year.
Employer Incentives
The maximum wage reimbursement for both “Stay at Work” and “Preferred Worker Programs” are now $25,000/claim.
Paid Leave
Sick Leave
Paid sick leave now extends to anyone living at home with a relation who requires assisted care due to an illness. Workers may take paid sick leave if an emergency causes the closure of a school or daycare their child attends.
Employers must award one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. Leave is available after 90 days of employment and can roll over to a maximum of 40 hours per year. Employers must maintain transparency regarding their employees’ balance of sick leave hours.
Family/Medical Leave
The rates for these forms of leave are now 0.92%, with employers covering 28.48% of the premium. If an employee is absent for more than three days, employers request verification so long as it would not cause an undue burden. Employers cannot pay out a leaving employee’s unused sick leave unless the employee works in construction. Employees who are rehired within 12 months should have all unused leave fully reinstated.
Rideshare Drivers
When driving one or more parties within Seattle, drivers for entities like Lyft and Uber are entitled to at least 68 cents/minute plus the greater amount between $1.59/mile driven or $5.95/trip. Outside of Seattle, this shifts to 39 cents/minute and either $1.34/mile driven or $3.45/trip. These rates do not extend to food delivery.
Deactivation Protection
Any app company that uses algorithmic management of workers must give employees 14 days before their account is deactivated. The one exception here is egregious misconduct, in which case the notice of deactivation (NOD) may be issued that day. Before deactivation, companies must investigate and provide evidence to support their NOD. Deactivations must be consistent, proportionate, and non-discriminatory. Workers may challenge deactivations up to 90 days after receiving NOD and their employers must respond in a written statement within 14 days. Should the challenge go unresolved, the worker may either file a complaint with OLS or pursue litigation. Workers can see the company’s records used to justify their deactivation and any new evidence that arises after NOD must be shared with the worker.
Mandatory Overtime in Healthcare
Mandatory overtime is restricted for hospital employees who directly interact with patient care, whether the worker is paid hourly or through collective bargaining. Note that smaller hospitals and facilities that provide critical access have until July 1st of this year to accept the terms. This does not influence contract and travel staff. There are four exceptions to requiring overtime.
- Emergencies
- Pre-scheduled time on-call
- Staffing shortages despite reasonable efforts
- When completing a patient’s procedure
Hospitals must document efforts to avoid overtime, and noncompliance can incur civil penalties. An employee is free to file a complaint with L&I which will handle any violations. Penalties for violating these overtime laws could incur fines as high as $5,000/infraction. Hospitals are encouraged to review overtime policies and seek legal assistance in remaining compliant.
