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 […]

In 2018, Washington State joined the ranks of states enacting expanded legislation designed to achieve gender-based pay equity when it enacted the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (the “EPOA”). The EPOA significantly expanded Washington’s then-existing […]

The hoped-for “Trump effect” appears to be in play and is pushing the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) pendulum back toward the management side of the equation after the Obama years. Among the changes on the horizon are a thawing of the definitions of […]

On April 17, 2019, the Washington Legislature passed a bill that would drastically alter the legal landscape for noncompetition agreements. Presently the bill is on the Governor’s desk, awaiting his signature. The new law, once enacted, will invalidate many (and perhaps most) existing noncompetition agreements in Washington, as of January 1, 2020 […]

The Federal Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides for 12 weeks of unpaid, but jobprotected, leave for employees’ family and medical reasons. Employers often provide employees with other forms of paid leave that they can also use to care for themselves or their family members. Prior to 2014, employers would often require […]

Few workplaces are entirely free from gossip and rumors. Employers typically consider such chatter an annoying but inevitable part of social interactions among their employees, something to be ignored if possible. Supervisors sometimes join in the discussions of other employees’ personal lives […]

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court found legal disputes between interstate trucking companies and owner-operator independent contractors cannot be forced into arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) even if the contractor agreement includes a mandatory arbitration clause […]

The United States Constitution, in Article I, Section 9, states that “No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in
Consequence of Appropriations made by Law.” A related federal statute, known as the “Antideficiency Act,” makes it unlawful for federal employees to “make or authorize an expenditure or obligation,” or to involve […]