Washington State’s Poster Will Soon Be on Its Way

We’ve been waiting for Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries to release the revised Your Rights as a Worker notice, which is now available. The updated Minimum Wage Announcement and Unemployment Benefits notices were released previously, and we are now publishing a new Washington poster with all of these changes.

What Employers Need to Know

New Minimum Wage Rates for 2018

As we reported last month, effective January 1, 2018, Washington’s minimum wage is increasing to $11.50 per hour. However, workers who are 14 or 15 years old may be paid 85% of the minimum wage, which is $9.78 per hour.

Updates to the Know Your Rights Notice

Paid Sick Leave

Details of Washington’s new Paid Sick Leave (PSL) law have been added to the notice. Effective January 1, 2018, most employees will be eligible to accrue 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

Leave may be taken after 90 days of employment, and employees must be allowed to carry over to the next year any unused PSL of 40 hours or less.

Employers should note that they must provide their employees with a statement outlining their accrued, used, and available hours of PSL at least once a month. This information may be provided on employees’ pay statements or via a separate notification.

The notice also includes a website where employers and employees can find information related to Paid Sick Leave requirements (www.Lni.wa.gov/Sick Leave).

Teen Workers

Parents of teens ages 14–17 must now sign the Parent Authorization form if their children want to engage in summer employment. Plus, the Parent/School Authorization form must now be signed by a school official and a parent if teens plan to work during the school year.

Unemployment Benefits

Those who are unable to apply online for unemployment benefits now have fewer days when they may call the Employment Security Department for help with securing benefits. Help is now available by phone only on Wednesdays and Fridays instead of Monday through Friday.

How to Stay on Top of All the Changes

If you order our OneSystem 1-Year Compliance Plan, you will automatically receive the updated Washington poster as soon as it becomes available. And, because we offer free poster updates for mandatory changes—no matter how many occur during the plan year—you will never have to worry about being in compliance.