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Seattle Approves Paid Sick-Leave Requirement

Seattle becomes just the third city in the country, after San Francisco and Washington, D.C., to mandate paid leave for employees to care for themselves or family members when ill. The state of Connecticut also has approved mandatory paid sick leave.

Plan Would Mandate Paid Sick Leave in Seattle

Seattle would become the fourth city in the nation to require all private employers to provide paid sick leave to workers under a proposal being advanced by a coalition of labor and community groups.

Seattle Expands Its Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance in Response to COVID-19

"Effective March 18, 2020, the Seattle Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) Ordinance allows eligible employees working in Seattle to use PSST when their family member's school or place of care is closed, regardless of whether such closure is made by a public official. In addition, when 'Tier 3' employers (with 250 or more full time equivalent employees worldwide) reduce operations or close a Seattle worksite for any health or safety reason, those employees are now able to use PSST for that reason. Thus far, neither the City Council nor the Office of Labor Standards has provided guidance on what exactly is meant by a reduction in operations."

Seattle Enacts Gig Worker Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance During COVID-19 Crisis

"The Seattle City Council has enacted the Paid Sick and Safe Time for Gig Workers Ordinance, which temporarily [mandates] paid sick and safe time (PSST) to 'gig workers' for online-based food delivery network companies and drivers of transportation network companies with 250 or more gig workers worldwide. The ordinance takes effect July 13, 2020, and ends 180 days after either [1] the termination of the Mayor's civil emergency, or [2] the termination of any concurrent civil emergency applicable to Seattle that is proclaimed by a public official in response to COVID-19, whichever is later. However, the law's other legal requirements, such as recordkeeping, will stay in effect for three years."

Seattle Ordinance Mandates COVID-19 Paid Sick and Safe Time for Gig Workers

"Since gig workers are categorized as independent contractors, they currently do not accrue paid sick and safe time under state and local laws.... [T]his is a temporary expansion allowing paid sick and safe time to the independent contractors, although the method of accruing and compensating for the leave and some of the reporting requirement are quite different from the regular Seattle paid sick leave law."

Emergency Rule: Seattle Employers Cannot Ask for Doctor's Notes for Paid Sick Time

"Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards just issued a temporary emergency rule that prohibits employers from requesting a doctor’s note to verify employees’ use of paid sick leave under Seattle’s Paid Sick and Safe Time (PSST) ordinance. The emergency rule is in effect from April 8 until June 7, 2020, unless it is revoked earlier or extended through formal rulemaking."

Seattle Proposes Revisions to Its Paid Sick and Safe Time Rules: Some Are Controversial

"While most of the proposed revisions align with the new state law, there are some key differences that Seattle employers should be aware of, including [1] holiday and premium pay; [2] occasional employee threshold; [3] frontloading; [4] increments of use; [5] written policy requirements; and [6] mandatory size of poster."

Seattle Paid Sick/Safe Time: Ten Tips and Traps

"Employer Location Is Irrelevant ... Employer Size Is Highly Relevant ... Any Employee Who Works in Seattle at All Is Potentially Covered ... PSST Accrues Differently Than Paid Leave Accrues Under Some Employer Policies ... There Are Rules About Using PSST ... There Are Rules About Pay During PSST ... Attendance Policies Do Not Apply to PSST ... Most Reasonable Notice Requirements Are Permissible ... Some Reasonable Documentation Requirements Are Not Permissible ... Tier Three Employers Must Evaluate Potential PTO Policies"

Seattle Considers Paid Sick and Safe Time Leave Ordinance

Supporters of the proposal say that public health will be improved by keeping sick employees at home. Businesses and business groups opposing the proposal argue no accurate assessment of the impact of the proposed ordinance on the City of Seattle has yet been conducted.

Revised Seattle Paid Sick and Safe Time Rules Give Employers Limited Time to Comply

"[Washington's Office of Labor Standards (OLS)] has proposed further revisions... [specifically,] a rule concerning what constitutes 'normal hourly compensation' to be used to calculate pay when an employee takes PSST leave.... The PSST rules were adopted on June 4, 2018, giving employers less than one month to review and revise policies and practices, if necessary, by the time the revisions take effect on July 1, 2018."