As you have no doubt heard, Governor Jay Inslee issued a “Stay Home, Stay Healthy”
Order on March 23, 2020. The Order directed that Washington residents must remain in
their homes until at least April 8, 2020, unless they are engaging in an “essential activity.” […]

Late on Wednesday, March 18, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
The Act does many things to address the COVID-19 pandemic: among them are the creation of two important new leave obligations for most employers throughout the country. The Act also takes effect in just two weeks – on April 2, 2020 – leaving very little time for employers to begin taking steps to get compliant. […]

If you have employees, you will eventually receive a question about what your company is doing to respond to COVID-19, popularly known as the “coronavirus.”

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published guidance […]

The National Labor Relations Board ended 2019 and began 2020 with a bang by reversing Obama-era case law on several fronts, and by issuing new union election rules designed to make the playing field more level when a union seeks to unionize workers.

The National Labor Relations Board ended 2019 with a bang by reversing

2019 was an eventful year for the Washington legislature with respect to employment law matters. The Legislature enacted (and the Governor signed) important new laws on a range of subjects: pre-offer inquiries into wage or salary history, non-competition agreements, accommodating employees’ need to express breast milk, “panic buttons” for certain workers, and important amendments to the nascent Paid Family and Medical Leave law […]

To be exempt from overtime pay, an employee must (1) perform certain defined job duties (“the duties test”) and (2) be paid a fixed salary that meets or exceeds the state or federal salary threshold (“the salary basis” test). Most Washington workers are covered […]

On January 1, 2020, Washington will become the fifth state to implement a mandatory paid family and medical leave
program, joining California, New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. (Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Oregon have enacted similar laws, but they do not take effect until 2021 or later.) In Washington, the […]

Each year the United States Supreme Court accepts 100-150 of the more than 7,000 lower court decisions it is asked to review. The Court’s term runs October through June, and to date, it has accepted just over 50 cases, including a few that may significantly impact employers. Issues to be decided by the Court include whether gay and […]

In Washington, wage and hour laws often impose technical and unforeseen obligations on employers. Long-term practices can become unlawful overnight with no warning. Happily, however, the Washington Supreme Court recently resolved a contested issue in employers’ favor. In Sampson v. Knight Transportation Inc. (September 5, 2019), the Court […]

Sometimes things just don’t add up. And sometimes, there’s a reasonable explanation. Every employer is required to determine employee eligibility to work in the U.S. by using the I-9 form. The current form is set to expire on August 31, 2019, but the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services […]

Recently, the Washington State Supreme Court expanded the Washington Law Against Discrimination (“WLAD”) to include “obesity” as a disability. Specifically, the Court held that “obesity always qualifies as an impairment under the plain language of [the WLAD] because it is recognized by the medical community as a […]