WA State – COVID-19 Worker Protection Rules

Washington has new COVID-related laws and regulations protecting workers. The requirements cover the right to have and use masks and PPE, exposure notices to employees, retaliation protections and when employers must report COVID cases to health departments. There are specific rules covering hospital workers, farmworkers, food warehouses/packing operations, and grocery stores. There new protections for workers who need worker’s compensation or unemployment insurance related to COVID. See L&I’s COVID News webpage: https://www.lni.wa.gov/agency/outreach/novel-coronavirus-outbreak-covid-19-resources. The WA Employment Security Dept. (ESD) also has a web page on unemployment rights; https://esd.wa.gov/newsroom/covid-19. See Chapters 2 and 4 of this Manual for more details.

Added Protection for High-Risk Workers – your employer is required to provide accommodations to you at work that protect you from risk of exposure to COVID-19 if you are a high-risk employee and you request accommodations. These accommodations can include, but are not limited to:

• telework

• alternative or remote work locations

• reassignment

• social distancing measures

If your employer determines that an alternative work arrangement is not feasible for you, they must permit you to use all your available accrued leave options or unemployment insurance, in any sequence and at your discretion, and they cannot retaliate against you for doing so. If you use up your paid time off, your employer still cannot permanently replace you at work for exercising your rights under this proclamation.

Unemployment Insurance for High Risk Workers – As of April 4, 2021, an unemployed person who has left work voluntarily and is high risk or lives with someone who is high risk is eligible for unemployment benefits in Washington state.

Local Areas – New COVID-19 Worker Protection Rules

Hazard Pay for Grocery Workers –  Local governments, including King County, Seattle, Bellingham, Burien, Edmonds, and Olympia have approved emergency rules providing a $4.00 per hour hazard pay boost for many grocery workers. For more info on the King County law, view this summary King County Hazard Pay Ordinance.

Seattle 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

Seattle Hazard Pay for Food Delivery Gig Workers – Seattle has approved $2.50 premium pay for gig workers delivering food and beverage meals and groceries for the duration of the pandemic. 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