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Washington Legislature Expands Domestic Violence Leave Act to Include Leave for Proceedings Relating to Hate Crimes
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed Senate Bill 5101 into law on May 20, 2025, which will amend Washington’s Domestic Violence Leave Act (DVLA) to include job protections for employees who seek certain types of assistance relating to a hate crime.
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Washington Legislature Expands Worker Protections and Clarifies “Stacking” Limits for Paid Family and Medical Leave
On May 17, 2025, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1213, which both expands worker protections relating to Washington’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (PFML) and allows an employer to limit an employee’s ability to “stack” their protected leave entitlements. Below is a summary of the key changes that start to take effect on January 1, 2026.
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Washington Legislature Expands Qualifying Reasons for Paid Sick Leave to Include Leave for Immigration Proceedings
Effective July 27, 2025, Washington House Bill 1875 will expand the qualifying reasons for which an employee may use their accrued and available state-mandated paid sick leave to include time off for an employee to prepare for or participate in any judicial or administrative immigration proceeding involving either the employee or their family member.
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New Hiring and Employment Records Laws Take Effect in Washington
During the 2025 legislative session, Washington State enacted several new measures that will significantly impact employer obligations related to hiring practices and personnel recordkeeping.
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Update on Jurisdictions Exceeding Washington State’s Minimum Wage in 2025: Burien and Everett
As we discussed in a previous blog post, the Washington State minimum wage increased to $16.66 per hour on January 1, 2025. This new state wage also impacts the salary levels for the white-collar exemptions from the minimum wage. In a separate blog post, we also discussed the minimum wages in multiple jurisdictions within Washington that exceed the Washington State minimum wage, and which also increase each year to account for inflation, including Bellingham, Renton, SeaTac, Seattle, Tukwila, and unincorporated King County. These updates continue as Burien voters recently approved a ballot measure to align Burien’s minimum wage ordinance with Tukwila’s ordinance, and Everett joined the jurisdictions increasing their minimum wage to exceed Washington State’s minimum wage.
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Washington State Law Provides Agricultural Cannabis Workers the Right to Unionize
A recently passed Washington State House Bill permits agricultural workers to unionize under the supervision of Washington’s Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC).
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