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The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Change in control" means any sale, purchase, assignment, acquisition, transfer, contribution, or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets, cash on hand, or a controlling interest, including by consolidation, merger, or reorganization, of or by the incumbent grocery employer or any person who controls the incumbent grocery employer or any grocery establishment under the operation or control of either the incumbent grocery employer or any person who controls the incumbent grocery employer.
"Department" means the department of labor and industries.
"Eligible grocery worker" means any individual whose primary place of employment is at the grocery establishment subject to a change in control, and who has worked for the incumbent grocery employer for at least six months prior to the execution of the transfer document. "Eligible grocery worker" does not include a managerial, supervisory, or confidential employee.
"Employment commencement date" means the date on which an eligible grocery worker retained by the successor grocery employer pursuant to this chapter commences work for the successor grocery employer in exchange for benefits and compensation under the terms and conditions established by the successor grocery employer and as required by law.
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"Grocery establishment" means a retail store in this state that is over 15,000 square feet in size and that sells primarily household foodstuffs for off-site consumption, including the sale of fresh produce, meats, poultry, fish, deli products, dairy products, canned foods, dry foods, beverages, baked foods, or prepared foods. Other household supplies or other products must be secondary to the primary purpose of food sales.
A distribution center owned and operated by a grocery establishment and used primarily to distribute goods to or from its owned stores is considered a grocery establishment, regardless of its square footage.
A grocery establishment does not include a retail store that has ceased operations for 12 months or more.
"Incumbent grocery employer" means the person that owns, controls, or operates the grocery establishment at the time of the change in control.
"Job classification" means a system for categorizing certain duties into certain jobs.
"Manual checkout station" means a station that is not a self-service checkout station and at which an employee provides human assistance to customers with scanning, bagging, or accepting payment for the customer's purchases.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust, association, joint venture, agency, instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity, whether domestic or foreign.
"Self-service checkout" means an automated process that enables customers to scan, bag, and pay for their purchases without human assistance.
"Self-service checkout station" means a station at which a customer can engage in a self-service checkout.
"Successor grocery employer" means the person that owns, controls, or operates the grocery establishment after the change in control. A successor grocery employer may be the same entity as an incumbent employer when a change in control occurs, but the covered employer remains the same. "Successor grocery employer" does not include any person that owns or controls 25 or fewer grocery establishments in the state. A successor grocery employer does not include an establishment operated by a franchisee pursuant to a franchise agreement if the franchisee operates 25 or fewer grocery establishments in the state.
"Transfer document" means the purchase agreement or other document effecting the change in control.
A grocery establishment may not provide a self-service checkout option for customers unless all of the following conditions are met:
At least one manual checkout station staffed by an employee is available to any given customer at the time that a self-service checkout option is made available to the customer, thereby giving the customer a choice between self-service checkout or manual checkout;
The grocery establishment has a workplace policy that limits the number of items a customer may purchase at a self-service checkout station to no more than 15 items, and there is signage in the area of the self-service checkout station indicating the permissible number of items; and
No more than two self-service checkout stations are simultaneously monitored by any one employee, and any such employee is relieved from all other duties while monitoring the self-service checkout stations, including relief from operating a manual checkout station.
A grocery establishment that offers self-service checkout shall include self-service checkout in its analysis of potential work hazards for purposes of any accident prevention programs required by law.
Subsections (1) and (2) of this section do not apply to discount warehouse or retail stores where more than one-half of the items carried by the discount warehouse or retail store are sold in large quantities or in bulk and the discount warehouse or retail store requires customers to pay a membership or assessment fee.
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Upon the filing of a complaint by an employee, the department shall investigate and enforce this section, including ordering appropriate relief.
An employer who violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of $100 for each day in violation, not to exceed an aggregate penalty of $10,000. Civil penalties imposed under this section must be paid to the director of the department for deposit in the supplemental pension fund established by RCW 51.44.033. Civil penalties may be recovered in a civil action in the name of the department brought in the superior court of the county where the violation is alleged to have occurred, or the department may utilize the procedures for collection of civil penalties as set forth in RCW 51.48.120 through 51.48.150.
In addition to other remedies as may be provided by state law, the attorney general's office may also institute an action for a violation of this section, including an action seeking injunctive relief.
An aggrieved employee or an employee representative, such as a collective bargaining representative or nonprofit corporation, may bring an action in the superior court of the state of Washington for violations of RCW 49.85.020 through 49.85.065 and 49.85.900 and may be awarded the following:
Hiring and reinstatement rights pursuant to this chapter. For violations of the retention provision, the 180-day transition employment period does not commence until the eligible grocery worker's employment commencement date with the successor grocery employer;
Front pay or back pay for each day during which the violation continues;
The value of the benefits the employee would have received under any benefit plans;
Reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to any employee or employee representative who prevails in an enforcement action.
Before an employee or an employee representative brings an action in the superior court of the state of Washington for a violation of RCW 49.85.020 through 49.85.065 and 49.85.900, both of the following requirements must be met:
The employee has provided written notice to the employer of the provisions of this chapter alleged to have been violated and the facts to support the alleged violation; and
The employer has not cured the alleged violation within 30 calendar days from receipt of the written notice.
RCW 49.85.020 through 49.85.065 and 49.85.900 do not apply to grocery establishments that will be located in geographic areas designated by the United States department of agriculture as food deserts, based on the original food desert measure contained in the Food Access Research Atlas, provided that both of the following apply:
More than six years have elapsed since the most recent grocery establishment was located in the area designated as a food desert; and
The grocery establishment stocks and, during normal business hours, sells fresh fruit and vegetables in amounts and of a quality that is comparable to what the establishment sells in its three geographically closest stores, which are located outside of the food desert.