Washington Business Fall 2017 | Legislative Review & Vote Record | Page 24

2017 legislative review
employee to inquire about, discuss, and/
or disclose, the compensation of the
employee. It allowed protections for
employees if an employer set pay based
solely on gender. House Bill 1447 bill was
based on draft legislation that was drafted
by AWB and the business community as an
alternative to House Bill 1506.
SSB 5975 definitions under the Federal Medical
Leave Act (FMLA). That includes: birth
of a child, recovery or treatment for a
serious medical condition or care for a
family member. Those eligible for the
leave will receive a percentage of their
wages based on a set formula. The maxi-
mum anyone can receive would be $1,000
per week, adjusted annually for inflation.
The funding for the leave is split between
the employer and employee. Employers pay
37 percent of the premium and employees
pay 63 percent, except in small businesses
with 50 or fewer employees. Businesses
with fewer than 50 employees are exempt
from the program and their portion of
premiums, but their employees are in
the program and pay their share of pre-
miums, giving them access to the benefit.
Small businesses with 150 employees
are eligible for grants to hire and/or train
replacement workers to fill in for employ-
ees on leave. All employers benefit from an
Unemployment Insurance (UI) provision
that ensures UI rates do not go up due to
layoff of a temporary worker. The program
maintains the FMLA job protection provi-
sions to ensure ease in administration and
predictability for employers. Employers of
any size with an equal or better plan can
apply for a waiver from the program. AWB
supported this legislation.
Passed/AWB Supported pregnancy
accommodations
paid family &
medical leave
Paid family leave was another issue
considered “necessary to implement
the budget,” or NTIB. Meetings with
the prime sponsors of the three bills
introduced continued throughout the
special sessions. AWB along with
a coalition of business associations
worked with labor and the legislators
to find a solution. After months
of negotiation and meetings, a
compromise bill was ultimately passed
and signed by the governor. The final
bill that passed was Senate Bill 5975.
The previous bills that were introduced
included House Bill 1116, sponsored by
Rep. June Robinson, D-Everett; Senate
Bill 5032, sponsored by Sen. Karen
Keiser, D-Kent; and Senate Bill 5149
sponsored by Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn.
paid family and medical
leave
Substitute Senate Bill 5975, sponsored by
Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, was the final
bill that resulted from hundreds of hours
of meetings between business and labor.
The legislation will provide paid leave ben-
efits to employees to take time off work to
care for a newborn, treatment or recovery
from a serious illness, or to care for a fam-
ily member. All employees are eligible to
receive the benefit after working 820 hours.
The program provides a uniform statewide
system benefit that follows employees
when they change jobs or move locations.
The paid family leave law allows work-
ers to take 12-16 weeks of leave using the
22 association of washington business
requires employers to provide reasonable
accommodation in employment for
pregnancy unless the accommodation
would impose an undue hardship on
the employer’s business. It also requires
certain health care facilities that provide
newborn delivery services to establish
skin-to-skin contact and room-in policies
for newborn infants. In addition, it
creates the Healthy Pregnancy Advisory
Committee to develop a strategy to
improve health outcomes for mothers and
infants. This was a compromise bill. AWB
supported the bill.
(Other pregnancy accommodation
bills introduced include ESHB 1776
sponsored by Rep. Jessyn Farrell,
D-Seattle; HB 1448 sponsored by Rep.
Michelle Caldier, R-Port Orchard; SB
5299 sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser,
D-Kent; and SB 5531 sponsored by Sen.
Michael Baumgartner, R-Spokane.)
SSB 5835
health outcomes/
pregnancy
Passed/AWB Supported
Substitute Senate Bill 5835, sponsored
by Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, was an
effort to pass bipartisan legislation
ensuring employers provide reasonable
accommodation for pregnant employees.
With assistance from Sen. Michael
Baumgartner, R- Spokane, lawmakers
succeeded in advancing a bill that
should have passed in 2016 but for the
House’s failure to move it. The bill
Rep. June Robinson, D-Everett, vice chair of
the House Appropriations Committee.