wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2611 > Original Bill
The legislature recognizes a 32-hour workweek offers substantial benefits for workers, particularly in supporting families that depend on dual incomes. With both parents often working full-time, reduced hours provide crucial flexibility for managing child care, household responsibilities, and family time without sacrificing financial stability. Beyond family support, employees experience significant improvements in their quality of life: Reduced stress levels, better mental and physical health, enhanced work-life balance, and greater overall well-being. These benefits translate into higher job satisfaction and engagement, creating a more fulfilled and motivated workforce that can bring renewed energy and focus to their work.
Further, the legislature finds there are equal benefits for employers. The transition to a shorter workweek does not mean reduced output. In fact, many companies have found that productivity either maintains its level or actually increases as workers become more focused and efficient with their time. This modernized approach to the standard workweek helps keep the state competitive in attracting and retaining top talent, particularly among younger workers who increasingly prioritize flexibility and well-being. The timing is particularly relevant given how advances in automation and artificial intelligence have dramatically increased what workers can accomplish in fewer hours; yet historically, the gains from these technological efficiencies have flowed primarily to company profits rather than being shared with workers through reduced hours or increased compensation. As artificial intelligence continues to accelerate productivity and reshape the workplace while also creating uncertainty about job displacement, a 32-hour workweek represents a forward-thinking way to share the benefits of technological progress with workers while simultaneously reducing turnover costs and fostering a more engaged, loyal workforce.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer shall employ any of his or her employees for a workweek longer than 32 hours unless such employee receives compensation for his or her employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he or she is employed.
This section does not apply to:
Any person exempted pursuant to RCW 49.46.010(4). The payment of compensation or provision of compensatory time off in addition to a salary shall not be a factor in determining whether a person is exempted under RCW 49.46.010(4)(c);
Employees who request compensating time off in lieu of overtime pay;
Any individual employed as a seaman whether or not the seaman is employed on a vessel other than an American vessel;
Seasonal employees who are employed at concessions and recreational establishments at agricultural fairs, including those seasonal employees employed by agricultural fairs, within the state provided that the period of employment for any seasonal employee at any or all agricultural fairs does not exceed 14 working days a year;
Any individual employed as a motion picture projectionist if that employee is covered by a contract or collective bargaining agreement which regulates hours of work and overtime pay;
An individual employed as a truck or bus driver who is subject to the provisions of the Federal Motor Carrier Act (49 U.S.C. Sec. 3101 et seq. and 49 U.S.C. Sec. 10101 et seq.), if the compensation system under which the truck or bus driver is paid includes overtime pay, reasonably equivalent to that required by this subsection, for working longer than forty hours per week;
Any individual employed as an agricultural employee. This exemption from subsection (1) of this section applies only until December 31, 2021;
Any industry in which federal law provides for an overtime payment based on a workweek other than forty hours. However, the provisions of the federal law regarding overtime payment based on a workweek other than forty hours shall nevertheless apply to employees covered by this section without regard to the existence of actual federal jurisdiction over the industrial activity of the particular employer within this state. For the purposes of this subsection, "industry" means a trade, business, industry, or other activity, or branch, or group thereof, in which individuals are gainfully employed (section 3(h) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended (Public Law 93-259));
Any individual licensed under chapter 18.85 RCW unless the individual is providing real estate brokerage services under a written contract with a real estate firm which provides that the individual is an employee. For purposes of this subsection (2)(j), "real estate brokerage services" and "real estate firm" mean the same as defined in RCW 18.85.011.
No employer shall be deemed to have violated subsection (1) of this section by employing any employee of a retail or service establishment for a workweek in excess of the applicable workweek specified in subsection (1) of this section if:
The regular rate of pay of the employee is in excess of one and one-half times the minimum hourly rate required under RCW 49.46.020; and
More than half of the employee's compensation for a representative period, of not less than one month, represents commissions on goods or services.
In determining the proportion of compensation representing commissions, all earnings resulting from the application of a bona fide commission rate is to be deemed commissions on goods or services without regard to whether the computed commissions exceed the draw or guarantee.
No employer of commissioned salespeople primarily engaged in the business of selling automobiles, trucks, recreational vessels, recreational vessel trailers, recreational vehicle trailers, recreational campers, manufactured housing, or farm implements to ultimate purchasers shall violate subsection (1) of this section with respect to such commissioned salespeople if the commissioned salespeople are paid the greater of:
Compensation at the hourly rate, which may not be less than the rate required under RCW 49.46.020, for each hour worked up to 32 hours per week, and compensation of one and one-half times that hourly rate for all hours worked over 32 hours in one week; or
A straight commission, a salary plus commission, or a salary plus bonus applied to gross salary.
No public agency shall be deemed to have violated subsection (1) of this section with respect to the employment of any employee in fire protection activities or any employee in law enforcement activities (including security personnel in correctional institutions) if: (a) In a work period of 28 consecutive days the employee receives for tours of duty which in the aggregate exceed 240 hours; or (b) in the case of such an employee to whom a work period of at least seven but less than 28 days applies, in his or her work period the employee receives for tours of duty which in the aggregate exceed a number of hours which bears the same ratio to the number of consecutive days in his or her work period as 240 hours bears to 28 days; compensation at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he or she is employed.
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Any agricultural employee shall not be employed for more than 32 hours in any one workweek unless the agricultural employee receives one and one-half times that agricultural employee's regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 32 in any one workweek.
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No damages, statutory or civil penalties, attorneys' fees and costs, or other type of relief may be granted against an employer to an agricultural or dairy employee seeking unpaid overtime due to the employee's historical exclusion from overtime under subsection (2)(g) of this section, as it existed on November 4, 2020.
This subsection applies to all claims, causes of actions, and proceedings commenced on or after November 5, 2020, regardless of when the claim or cause of action arose. To this extent, this subsection applies retroactively, but in all other respects it applies prospectively.
This subsection does not apply to dairy employees entitled to back pay or other relief as a result of being a member in the class of plaintiffs in , 196 Wn.2d 506 (2020).
For the purposes of this section, "agricultural employee" means any individual employed: (a) On a farm, in the employ of any person, in connection with the cultivation of the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry, and furbearing animals and wildlife, or in the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of a farm in connection with the operation, management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of such farm and its tools and equipment; (b) in packing, packaging, grading, storing or delivering to storage, or to market or to a carrier for transportation to market, any agricultural or horticultural commodity; or (c) in commercial canning, commercial freezing, or any other commercial processing, or with respect to services performed in connection with the cultivation, raising, harvesting, and processing of oysters or in connection with any agricultural or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption. An agricultural employee does not include a dairy employee.
For the purposes of this section, "dairy employee" includes any employee engaged in dairy cattle and milk production activities described in code 112120 of the North American industry classification system.
Beginning January 1, 2018, except as provided in RCW 49.46.180, every employer shall provide each of its employees paid sick leave as follows:
An employee shall accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 32 hours worked as an employee. An employer may provide paid sick leave in advance of accrual provided that such front-loading meets or exceeds the requirements of this section for accrual, use, and carryover of paid sick leave.
An employee is authorized to use paid sick leave for the following reasons:
An absence resulting from an employee's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; to accommodate the employee's need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or an employee's need for preventive medical care;
To allow the employee to provide care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or care for a family member who needs preventive medical care;
When the employee's place of business has been closed by order of a public official for any health-related reason, or when an employee's child's school or place of care has been closed for such a health-related reason or after the declaration of an emergency by a local or state government or agency, or by the federal government; and
To allow the employee to prepare for, or participate in, any judicial or administrative immigration proceeding involving the employee or employee's family member.
An employee is authorized to use paid sick leave for absences that qualify for leave under the domestic violence leave act, chapter 49.76 RCW.
An employee is entitled to use accrued paid sick leave beginning on the ninetieth calendar day after the commencement of his or her employment.
Employers are not prevented from providing more generous paid sick leave policies or permitting use of paid sick leave for additional purposes.
An employer may require employees to give reasonable notice of an absence from work, so long as such notice does not interfere with an employee's lawful use of paid sick leave.
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ii.(A) For purposes of fulfilling a request for verification for leave taken under (b)(iv) of this subsection, an employee may submit, and the employer must accept:
(I) Documentation that the employee or the employee's family member is involved in a qualifying immigration proceeding from any of the following persons from whom the employee or employee's family member sought assistance in addressing the proceeding: An advocate for immigrants or refugees, an attorney, a member of the clergy, or other professional. The provision of documentation under this subsection does not waive or diminish the confidential or privileged nature of communications between an employee or an employee's family member and one or more of the individuals described in this subsection pursuant to RCW 5.60.060 or other applicable law; or
(II) An employee's written statement that the employee or the employee's family member is involved in a qualifying immigration proceeding and that the leave taken was for one of the purposes described in (b)(iv) of this subsection.
(B) The documentation or written statement must not disclose any personally identifiable information about a person's immigration status or underlying immigration protection.
h. An employer may not require, as a condition of an employee taking paid sick leave, that the employee search for or find a replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee is on paid sick leave.
i. For each hour of paid sick leave used, an employee shall be paid the greater of the minimum hourly wage rate established in this chapter or his or her normal hourly compensation. The employer is responsible for providing regular notification to employees about the amount of paid sick leave available to the employee.
j. Except as provided in (l) of this subsection, accrued and unused paid sick leave carries over to the following year, but an employer is not required to allow an employee to carry over paid sick leave in excess of 40 hours.
k. Except as provided in (l) of this subsection, an employer is not required to provide financial or other reimbursement for accrued and unused paid sick leave to any employee upon the employee's termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment. When there is a separation from employment and the employee is rehired within 12 months of separation by the same employer, whether at the same or a different business location of the employer, previously accrued unused paid sick leave shall be reinstated and the previous period of employment shall be counted for purposes of determining the employee's eligibility to use paid sick leave under (d) of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection (1)(k), "previously accrued and unused paid sick leave" does not include sick leave paid out to a construction worker under (l) of this subsection.
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i. A construction industry employer must pay a construction worker, who has not met the 90th day eligibility under (d) of this subsection at the time of separation, the balance of the worker's accrued and unused paid sick leave at the end of the established pay period following the worker's separation pursuant to RCW 49.48.010(2).
ii. The definitions in this subsection (1)(l)(ii) apply throughout this subsection (1)(l) unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(A) "Construction worker" means a worker who performed service, maintenance, or construction work on a jobsite, in the field or in a fabrication shop using the tools of the worker's trade or craft.
(B) "Construction industry employer" means an employer in the industry described in North American industry classification system industry code 23, except for residential building construction code 2361.
The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section, except for subsection (5) of this section:
"Family member" means a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee, and also includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee's home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care. "Family member" includes any individual who regularly resides in the employee's home, except that it does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee care for the individual.
"Child" means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a child's spouse, or a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, regardless of age or dependency status.
"Grandchild" means a child of the employee's child.
"Grandparent" means a parent of the employee's parent.
"Parent" means the biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an employee or the employee's spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to an employee when the employee was a child.
"Spouse" means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or state registered domestic partner.
An employer may not adopt or enforce any policy that counts the use of paid sick leave time as an absence that may lead to or result in discipline against the employee.
An employer may not discriminate or retaliate against an employee for his or her exercise of any rights under this chapter including the use of paid sick leave.
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The definitions in this subsection apply to this subsection:
"Average hourly compensation" means a driver's compensation during passenger platform time from, or facilitated by, the transportation network company, during the 365 days immediately prior to the day that paid sick time is used, divided by the total hours of passenger platform time worked by the driver on that transportation network company's driver platform during that period. "Average hourly compensation" does not include tips.
"Driver," "driver platform," "passenger platform time," and "transportation network company" have the meanings provided in RCW 49.46.300.
"Earned paid sick time" is the time provided by a transportation network company to a driver as calculated under this subsection. For each hour of earned paid sick time used by a driver, the transportation network company shall compensate the driver at a rate equal to the driver's average hourly compensation.
For purposes of drivers, the following definitions apply:
(A) "Family member" means a child, grandchild, grandparent, parent, sibling, or spouse of a driver, and also includes any individual who regularly resides in the driver's home or where the relationship creates an expectation that the driver care for the person, and that individual depends on the driver for care. "Family member" includes any individual who regularly resides in the driver's home, except that it does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the driver care for the individual.
(B) "Child" means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a child's spouse, or a child to whom the driver stands in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, regardless of age or dependency status.
(C) "Grandchild" means a child of the driver's child.
(D) "Grandparent" means a parent of the driver's parent.
(E) "Parent" means the biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of a driver or the driver's spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to a driver when the driver was a child.
(F) "Spouse" means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or state registered domestic partner.
b. Beginning January 1, 2023, a transportation network company must provide to each driver operating on its driver platform compensation for earned paid sick time as required by this subsection and subject to the provisions of this subsection. A driver shall accrue one hour of earned paid sick time for every 32 hours of passenger platform time worked.
c. A driver is entitled to use accrued earned paid sick time upon recording 90 hours of passenger platform time on the transportation network company's driver platform.
d. For each hour of earned paid sick time used, a driver shall be paid the driver's average hourly compensation.
e. A transportation network company shall establish an accessible system for drivers to request and use earned paid sick time. The system must be available to drivers via smartphone application and online web portal.
f. A driver may carry over up to 40 hours of unused earned paid sick time to the next calendar year. If a driver carries over unused earned paid sick time to the following year, accrual of earned paid sick time in the subsequent year must be in addition to the hours accrued in the previous year and carried over.
g. A driver is entitled to use accrued earned paid sick time if the driver has used the transportation network company's platform as a driver within 90 calendar days preceding the driver's request to use earned paid sick time.
h. A driver is entitled to use earned paid sick time for the following reasons:
i. An absence resulting from the driver's mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; to accommodate the driver's need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or an employee's need for preventive medical care;
ii. To allow the driver to provide care for a family member with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or care for a family member who needs preventive medical care;
iii. When the driver's child's school or place of care has been closed by order of a public official for any health-related reason or has been closed after the declaration of an emergency by a local or state government or agency, or by the federal government;
iv. For absences for which an employee would be entitled for leave under RCW 49.76.030;
v. During a deactivation or other status that prevents the driver from performing network services on the transportation network company's platform, unless the deactivation or status is due to a verified allegation of sexual assault or physical assault perpetrated by the driver; and
vi. To allow the driver to prepare for, or participate in, any judicial or administrative immigration proceeding involving the driver or driver's family member.
i. If a driver does not record any passenger platform time in a transportation network company's driver platform for 365 or more consecutive days, any unused earned paid sick time accrued up to that point with that transportation network company is no longer valid or recognized.
j. Drivers may use accrued days of earned paid sick time in increments of a minimum of four or more hours. Drivers are entitled to request four or more hours of earned paid sick time for immediate use, including consecutive days of use. Drivers are not entitled to use more than eight hours of earned paid sick time within a single calendar day.
k. A transportation network company shall compensate a driver for requested hours or days of earned paid sick time no later than 14 calendar days or the next regularly scheduled date of compensation following the requested hours or days of earned paid sick time.
l. A transportation network company shall not request or require reasonable verification of a driver's qualifying illness or of a driver's qualifying judicial or administrative immigration proceeding except as would be permitted to be requested of an employee under subsection (1)(g) of this section. If a transportation network company requires verification pursuant to this subsection, the transportation network company must compensate the driver for the requested hours or days of earned paid sick time no later than the driver's next regularly scheduled date of compensation after satisfactory verification is provided.
m. If a driver accepts an offer of prearranged services for compensation from a transportation network company during the four-hour period or periods for which the driver requested earned paid sick time, a transportation network company may determine that the driver did not use earned paid sick time for an authorized purpose.
n. A transportation network company shall provide each driver with:
i. Written notification of the current rate of average hourly compensation while a passenger is in the vehicle during the most recent calendar month for use of earned paid sick time;
ii. An updated amount of accrued earned paid sick time since the last notification;
iii. Reduced earned paid sick time since the last notification;
iv. Any unused earned paid sick time available for use; and
v. Any amount that the transportation network company may subtract from the driver's compensation for earned paid sick time. The transportation network company shall provide this information to the driver no less than monthly. The transportation network company may choose a reasonable system for providing this notification, including but not limited to: A pay stub; a weekly summary of compensation information; or an online system where drivers can access their own earned paid sick time information. A transportation network company is not required to provide this information to a driver if the driver has not worked any days since the last notification.
o. A transportation network company may not adopt or enforce any policy that counts the use of earned paid sick time as an absence that may lead to or result in any action that adversely affects the driver's use of the transportation network.
p. A transportation network company may not take any action against a driver that adversely affects the driver's use of the transportation network due to his or her exercise of any rights under this subsection including the use of earned paid sick time.
q. The department may adopt rules to implement this subsection.
This act takes effect January 1, 2028.