Washington Business Fall 2016 | Washington Business | Page 25

what’s working

Many employers said they have been forced to
drop health insurance for employees, like a Yakima
employer whose rates would have increased by 51
percent.
Other business owners are trying to hold onto that
benefit for their workers but can no longer afford to
insure themselves.
And coverage for the families of employees has
quickly become a distant memory.

workers’ compensation isn’t working
In Wenatchee, a resort operator recounted a recent
visit from a Department of Labor & Industries (L&I)
inspector that seemed focused more on making
money rather than creating a safer workplace.
“It’s punitive,” he said about a visit that left his
company with $14,000 in fines. “There’s so much
gray area and complexity in the regulations that
there’s basically no way a business can come out
without being fined.”
He contrasted that with the public health department, which
does a better job of providing education before assessing
penalties when fixes aren’t made.

“They are brave souls who start
a small business now.”
— Linda Haglund, Wenatchee Downtown Association

Employees who are injured during non-work hours, but claim
it as a workplace injury, cause workers’ comp rates to go up
— and L&I believes the employee over the employer, said the
operator of a north-central Washington river rafting business.
“L&I didn’t believe me,” he said. “I was blown away that L&I
was so eager to pay it.”
That discussion was common throughout the state. One senior
home care provider said he’s prohibited from inquiring about a
prospective employee’s record of seven previous workers’ comp
claims. Soon after being hired, this employee filed what the
employer then learned was his eighth claim.

regulation, poorly applied

A Vancouver employer whose small business operates in three
states said his workers’ comp costs are 50 percent higher in
Washington than in California.
“Anytime you’re worse than California, you’re in really bad
shape,” he said.

An Olympia manufacturer has seen a simple project turned
into a years-long effort because of state and local permit delays.
“One employee in one agency, a clerk, can delay a project for
several months simply by not getting to your permit in their
stack,” he said. “Opportunity is opportunity now. It may not be
opportunity next year, or in five years.”
In Ellensburg, an engineering firm contends with Growth
Management Act and stormwater requirements designed for
the Puget Sound region, but that are applied to arid Eastern
Washington.
A Grays Harbor County entrepreneur with 56 years’
experience as a land developer said he’s seen difficulties grow:
“It’s getting harder and harder and harder to get anything done.”
Federal regulations are a growing burden. From Dodd-Frank
to the Patriot Act, the paperwork is so overwhelming that it’s
forcing financial institutions to consolidate as a way of dealing
with compliance costs, said a credit union officer in Yakima. That’s
a big loss, since these small institutions fill unique niches in towns
across the country.

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