Washington Business Fall 2016 | Legislative Review | Page 10

2016 legislative review Employment & Workplace Robert Battles: Labor & Employment Law, Workers’ Compensation labor & employment law What was expected to be a short session with very few employment law issues being heard, instead was packed with controversial and divisive issues. Many of the issues were carryovers from last year’s record setting legislative session like minimum wage, paid safe and sick leave, non-compete agreements and anti-retaliation laws. Other bills raised new issues like biometrics. To say the short session was busy is an understatement. We saw these issues result in contentious debates in both the House and Senate. While most of the bills ultimately failed, this session did see a few policies move out of the House and Senate. Unfortunately, important bills like one that would create a reasonable workplace accommodation for pregnancy, that passed the Senate unanimously, became so political by the House Democrats that it ultimately failed. This is one example of the House making a good bipartisan bill from the Senate extremely partisan. In all, the short session left more issues unresolved than resolved. That means many of the wage and leave issues continue to be debated at the local level. We continue to see the local issues moving from one jurisdiction to another. The patchwork of different regulations has resulted in a business environment that stifles innovation, limits business growth and creates administrative burdens for employers that work across jurisdictions. The issues need a statewide solution. These same minimum wage and paid-leave issues are also showing up as part of a statewide initiative ballot measure that qualified for the November ballot. AWB continues to seek a balanced approach to legislation that promotes jobs and economic opportunities for all Washington residents. ESHB 2307 HB 2404 Failed/AWB Opposed Failed/AWB Supported Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2307, sponsored by Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Seattle, would have required employers, under the Washington Law Against Discrimination, to provide reasonable accommodation in employment for pregnancy, childbirth, or pregnancy related health conditions, unless the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the employer’s business. AWB testified with concerns regarding this bill as it would impose a greater burden on small businesses. The bill passed the House 52-45, but failed to gain any support in the Senate. House Bill 2404, sponsored by Rep. Linda Kochmar, R-Federal Way, was a substantial improvement to House Bill 2307. The bill would have required employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with pregnancy-related or childbirth-related health conditions like HB 2307. However, similar to Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6149, it added the requirement for written certification from the employee’s health care provider. The bill also limited accommodations if they would impose an undue hardship on the employer’s business. Even with these improvements the bill failed to move out of committee. pregnancy accommodation 8 association of washington business workplace pregnancy accommodation ESSB 6149 pregnancy accommodation Failed/AWB Supported Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6149, sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser, D -Des Moines, would have required that an employer provide reasonable accommodations to an employee for a pregnancy-related or childbirth-related health condition, unless the employer demonstrates that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship. The employee must provide written notice to the employer stating that a health condition related to pregnancy or childbirth requires accommodation. The notice must also include a certification from her licensed health care provider. The bill passed