Seattle's Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

NMTA is here to help you navigate the bevy of rules and retulations. For our human resource blog-checkers, here's some important info on the new Sick Leave Ordinance that the Seattle City Council passed last year. Thank you Foster Pepper for the update.

From: Steve Peltin [mailto:PeltS@foster.com]

To: Peter Schrappen
Cc:
Subject: Update on Seattle Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance

 

Peter, you will recall that in August Janelle Milodragovich and I presented to members of your group about the new Seattle Sick and Safe Leave ordinance.  We were joined by a representative of the Seattle Office for Civil Rights.

 

Based on conversations with the City’s lawyers, the City is interpreting the ordinance in a manner that differs from the presentation that we gave.  Specifics can be found on our blog here.  http://www.washingtonworkplacelaw.com/private-employers/the-seattle-office-for-civil-rights-clarifies-its-interpretation-of-occasional-employee/

In summary, the Office for Civil Rights will clarify the scope of the “occasional employee” definition, especially as it applies to employees who spend most of their time outside of Seattle but enter the city to perform work. The Seattle Office for Civil Rights Rules specify that employees who “work in Seattle on an occasional basis are covered by the Ordinance if they perform more than 240 hours of work in Seattle within a calendar year.” 70-040 (5). The Rules also specify that “[e]mployees who work in Seattle on an occasional basis shall begin to accrue paid sick/safe time upon coverage by the Ordinance (i.e. when they have worked more than 240 hours of work in Seattle within a calendar year).” 70-120(2).

The Office intends to distinguish between workers who enter Seattle on a scheduled basis, such as a Friday afternoon shift, and employees who come to Seattle on an unscheduled basis. Only employees performing Seattle-based work on an unforeseeable, random schedule will be subject to the 240 hour threshold requirement. Non-Seattle employees working in Seattle on a regularly-scheduled basis will accrue sick and safe time from the first hour they work.

At the same time, the City will require employers to allow all Seattle-based employees, regardless of how much or little they work, and regardless of whether they work a regular or sporadic schedule, to accrue sick and safe time from the first hour they work.

Your members should review their policies in light of these developments.  We’ll post updated guidance on this and other employment and labor issues in our blog (www.washingtonworkplacelaw.com).

Best regards,

Steve

PS: I was pleased that the Puget Sound Business Journal recently published an interview with me on the topic. http://www.foster.com/pdf/Nov2012_Peltin_PSBJ_InPerson.pdf

 

 

 Steven R. Peltin
FOSTER PEPPER PLLC
1111 Third Avenue, Suite 3400
Seattle, WA 98101-3299
Phone: 206-447-6215
Fax: 206-749-2094
pelts@foster.com
www.foster.com
www.washingtonworkplacelaw.com