WA State – New COVID-19 Worker Protection Rules

WA State – New COVID-19 Worker Protection Rules – Labor & Industries (L&I) has new workplace regulations covering masks, hospital workers, farmworker housing, ag warehouses/packing operations, grocery stores, COVID worker’s comp coverage, and enforcement for businesses ignoring pandemic orders. See L&I’s COVID News webpage: https://www.lni.wa.gov/agency/outreach/novel-coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-resources

Seattle – New COVID-19 Worker Protection Rules

Gig Worker Paid Sick Leave – new temporary law allows some gig workers to take paid leave to care for their own health and safety, or the health and safety of a family member, under some circumstances during the Covid-19 emergency. For more info: https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/covid-19-gig-worker-protections-/gig-worker-paid-sick-and-safe-time-ordinance?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Hazard Pay for Grocery and Food Delivery Gig Workers – In 2020, Seattle approved $2.50 premium pay for gig workers delivering food and beverage meals and groceries for the duration of the pandemic. On Jan. 25, 2021, the Seattle City Council approved an emergency rule providing a $4.00 per hour hazard pay for many grocery workers. For more info visit Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards

COVID-19 Workers’ Rights Webinars – The Labor Center has developed a series of webinars on COVID-related rights and benefits for workers. The Labor Center’s 2020 Covid-19 webinars are permanently available on our YouTube Channel using this link: Labor Center-YouTube-playlist. View recent webinars on:

• Paid Sick and Family Medical Leave Options
• Housing Security and the Eviction Moratorium
• How to sign up for Health Insurance
• Unemployment
• Health and Safety at Work

Unemployment Resources/Links

• Unemployment Law Project
  • Internet: http://unemploymentlawproject.org/covid-19/
  • Spanish: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KTn0byzmHI&feature=emb_title
  • Webinars every Monday at 12:00 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/729993431
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnemploymentLawProject
  • FAQ Immigrant Workers’ Rights and COVID19: https://www.nelp.org/publication/faq-immigrant-workers-rights-and-covid-19/
• Employment Security Dept. (ESD) Info Sheet on COVID 19
  • English: https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/covid-19
  • Spanish: https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/covid-19-coronavirus-info-spanish

• National Employment Law Project
  • Immigrant Workers Access to Unemployment in English https://bit.ly/2QYA89d
  • Immigrant Workers Access to Unemployment in Spanish: https://s27147.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/SPANISH_Immigrant-Workers-Eligibility-Unemployment-Insurance.pdf
• Washington State Facebook Unemployment Support Group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/832600063913685

Other COVID-19 Resources

• WA State Labor Council
  • COVID-19 Resource Guide: https://www.wslc.org/covid-19/ English and Espanol
  • Help for Working Families: https://www.wslc.org/ffwf
• Department of Health COVID-19 information
  • English: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus
  • Spanish: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020COVID19/CoronavirusSpanish
  • Dept. of Health Workplace COVID-19 Fact Sheet/Resources  COVID-19/Workplace
• COVID-19 Relief Fund for WA Undocumented Folks – apply for help https://www.scholarshipjunkies.org/relief
• WA Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN)
  • Call the WA Immigrant Solidarity Network Hotline for up to date information for immigrants about your rights and help available with basic needs and workers’ rights during the time of the coronavirus. Call 844-724-3737 every day. Volunteers speak Spanish and English and will find support in other languages.
    Llame a la Linea Directa de la Red de Solidaridad de Inmigrantes de Washington para información para inmigrantes sobre sus derechos y ayuda disponible con los necesidades básicos y los derechos de los trabajadores en la época de la coronavirus, Llame a 844-724-3737 todos los dias. Las voluntarias hablan inglés y español y encontrará ayuda en otros ideomas.
  • Internet: https://www.waisn.org
  • Phone: (800) 844-724-3737
  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WAimmigrantsolidaritynetwork/
• Columbia Legal Services
  • If you are low-income and have legal questions about your COVID employment or benefit rights, contact Columbia Legal Services (https://columbialegal.org/) or call 888-201-1014.

  Health and Safety Resources (National)

  • Natl. Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH) Coronavirus Resources
  • Am I Safe at Work (AFL-CIO)

For information on your rights to paid sick leave, paid family medical leave, unemployment and workers’ compensation, use the links to see your Basic Rights #1 and #2 below.

Sign Up

Overtime and Minimum Wage for Salaried Workers

Washington State is raising the minimum wage and overtime threshhold (salary level) for workers who primarily perform “executive, administrative, and professional” (EAP) duties each year for the next 8 years. You must earn more than the following threshold to be denied overtime pay: if you work for an employer with 50 or less employees, the 2021 overtime salary threshold is $821.40/week ($42,712.80/year). For large businesses (51 or more employees) the 2021 overtime salary threshold is $958.30/week ($49,831.60/year) If you earn less than these thresholds, you are covered by state minimum wage and overtime rules. There are also changes in the thresholds for exempt computer professionals paid by the hour.

Find more information on the Washington State changes here: https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/overtime/changes-to-overtime-rules

Citizenship or Immigration Status

Washington’s Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) now bars discrimination based on immigration status as an unfair practice in addition to citizenship. A person or entity may make a distinction or treat someone differently based on citizenship or immigration status only if a state or federal law, regulation, or a government contract requires it. See Chapter 3 for more information.

The Washington statewide minimum wage is $13.69/hour, and Seattle’s minimum hourly wage is $16.69 for large employers and $15.00 to $16.69 at small employers. For more details, see Chapter 1, Your Right to be Paid