Sick leave/immigration

AN ACT Relating to allowing the use of paid sick leave to prepare 1
for or participate in certain immigration proceedings; and reenacting 2
and amending RCW 49.46.210. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 49.46.210 and 2024 c 356 s 1 and 2024 c 39 s 1 are 5
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 6
(1) Beginning January 1, 2018, except as provided in RCW 7
49.46.180, every employer shall provide each of its employees paid 8
sick leave as follows: 9
(a) An employee shall accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave 10
for every forty hours worked as an employee. An employer may provide 11
paid sick leave in advance of accrual provided that such front-12
loading meets or exceeds the requirements of this section for 13
accrual, use, and carryover of paid sick leave. 14
(b) An employee is authorized to use paid sick leave for the 15
following reasons: 16
(i) An absence resulting from an employee's mental or physical 17
illness, injury, or health condition; to accommodate the employee's 18
need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or 19
physical illness, injury, or health condition; or an employee's need 20
for preventive medical care; 21
H-1166.1
HOUSE BILL 1875
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Salahuddin, Thai, Taylor, Fosse, Paul, Bergquist,
Bronoske, Kloba, Pollet, Street, Stonier, Parshley, Obras, Thomas,
Hill, Doglio, Berry, Reed, Ramel, Gregerson, Scott, Cortes, Simmons,
Peterson, and Zahn
Read first time 02/06/25. Referred to Committee on Labor & Workplace
Standards.
p. 1 HB 1875
(ii) To allow the employee to provide care for a family member 1
with a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care 2
of a family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of 3
a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or care 4
for a family member who needs preventive medical care; ((and))5
(iii) When the employee's place of business has been closed by 6
order of a public official for any health-related reason, or when an 7
employee's child's school or place of care has been closed for such a 8
health-related reason or after the declaration of an emergency by a 9
local or state government or agency, or by the federal government ; 10
and11
(iv) To allow the employee to prepare for, or participate in, any 12
judicial or administrative immigration proceeding involving the 13
employee or employee's family member. 14
(c) An employee is authorized to use paid sick leave for absences 15
that qualify for leave under the domestic violence leave act, chapter 16
49.76 RCW. 17
(d) An employee is entitled to use accrued paid sick leave 18
beginning on the ninetieth calendar day after the commencement of his 19
or her employment. 20
(e) Employers are not prevented from providing more generous paid 21
sick leave policies or permitting use of paid sick leave for 22
additional purposes. 23
(f) An employer may require employees to give reasonable notice 24
of an absence from work, so long as such notice does not interfere 25
with an employee's lawful use of paid sick leave. 26
(g)(i) For absences exceeding three days, an employer may require 27
verification that an employee's use of paid sick leave is for an 28
authorized purpose. If an employer requires verification, 29
verification must be provided to the employer within a reasonable 30
time period during or after the leave. An employer's requirements for 31
verification may not result in an unreasonable burden or expense on 32
the employee and may not exceed privacy or verification requirements 33
otherwise established by law. 34
(ii) For purposes of fulfilling a request for verification for 35
leave taken under (b)(iv) of this subsection, an employee may submit, 36
and the employer must accept, a written statement or other 37
documentation describing the employee or the employee's family 38
member's involvement in a qualifying proceeding from the employee or 39
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an advocate, an attorney, or a member of the clergy who is assisting 1
the employee or the employee's family member in the proceeding.2
(h) An employer may not require, as a condition of an employee 3
taking paid sick leave, that the employee search for or find a 4
replacement worker to cover the hours during which the employee is on 5
paid sick leave. 6
(i) For each hour of paid sick leave used, an employee shall be 7
paid the greater of the minimum hourly wage rate established in this 8
chapter or his or her normal hourly compensation. The employer is 9
responsible for providing regular notification to employees about the 10
amount of paid sick leave available to the employee.11
(j) Except as provided in (l) of this subsection, accrued and 12
unused paid sick leave carries over to the following year, but an 13
employer is not required to allow an employee to carry over paid sick 14
leave in excess of 40 hours. 15
(k) Except as provided in (l) of this subsection, an employer is 16
not required to provide financial or other reimbursement for accrued 17
and unused paid sick leave to any employee upon the employee's 18
termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from 19
employment. When there is a separation from employment and the 20
employee is rehired within 12 months of separation by the same 21
employer, whether at the same or a different business location of the 22
employer, previously accrued unused paid sick leave shall be 23
reinstated and the previous period of employment shall be counted for 24
purposes of determining the employee's eligibility to use paid sick 25
leave under (d) of this subsection. For purposes of this subsection 26
(1)(k), "previously accrued and unused paid sick leave" does not 27
include sick leave paid out to a construction worker under (l) of 28
this subsection. 29
(l)(i) A construction industry employer must pay a construction 30
worker, who has not met the 90th day eligibility under (d) of this 31
subsection at the time of separation, the balance of the worker's 32
accrued and unused paid sick leave at the end of the established pay 33
period following the worker's separation pursuant to RCW 34
49.48.010(2). 35
(ii) The definitions in this subsection (1)(l)(ii) apply 36
throughout this subsection (1)(l) unless the context clearly requires 37
otherwise. 38
p. 3 HB 1875
(A) "Construction worker" means a worker who performed service, 1
maintenance, or construction work on a jobsite, in the field or in a 2
fabrication shop using the tools of the worker's trade or craft.3
(B) "Construction industry employer" means an employer in the 4
industry described in North American industry classification system 5
industry code 23, except for residential building construction code 6
2361. 7
(2) The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this 8
section, except for subsection (5) of this section:9
(a) "Family member" means a child, grandchild, grandparent, 10
parent, sibling, or spouse of an employee, and also includes any 11
individual who regularly resides in the employee's home or where the 12
relationship creates an expectation that the employee care for the 13
person, and that individual depends on the employee for care. "Family 14
member" includes any individual who regularly resides in the 15
employee's home, except that it does not include an individual who 16
simply resides in the same home with no expectation that the employee 17
care for the individual. 18
(b) "Child" means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a 19
stepchild, a child's spouse, or a child to whom the employee stands 20
in loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, 21
regardless of age or dependency status. 22
(c) "Grandchild" means a child of the employee's child.23
(d) "Grandparent" means a parent of the employee's parent.24
(e) "Parent" means the biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster 25
parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of an employee or the 26
employee's spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to an 27
employee when the employee was a child. 28
(f) "Spouse" means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or 29
state registered domestic partner. 30
(3) An employer may not adopt or enforce any policy that counts 31
the use of paid sick leave time as an absence that may lead to or 32
result in discipline against the employee. 33
(4) An employer may not discriminate or retaliate against an 34
employee for his or her exercise of any rights under this chapter 35
including the use of paid sick leave. 36
(5)(a) The definitions in this subsection apply to this 37
subsection: 38
(i) "Average hourly compensation" means a driver's compensation 39
during passenger platform time from, or facilitated by, the 40
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transportation network company, during the 365 days immediately prior 1
to the day that paid sick time is used, divided by the total hours of 2
passenger platform time worked by the driver on that transportation 3
network company's driver platform during that period. "Average hourly 4
compensation" does not include tips. 5
(ii) "Driver," "driver platform," "passenger platform time," and 6
"transportation network company" have the meanings provided in RCW 7
49.46.300. 8
(iii) "Earned paid sick time" is the time provided by a 9
transportation network company to a driver as calculated under this 10
subsection. For each hour of earned paid sick time used by a driver, 11
the transportation network company shall compensate the driver at a 12
rate equal to the driver's average hourly compensation.13
(iv) For purposes of drivers, the following definitions apply:14
(A) "Family member" means a child, grandchild, grandparent, 15
parent, sibling, or spouse of a driver, and also includes any 16
individual who regularly resides in the driver's home or where the 17
relationship creates an expectation that the driver care for the 18
person, and that individual depends on the driver for care. "Family 19
member" includes any individual who regularly resides in the driver's 20
home, except that it does not include an individual who simply 21
resides in the same home with no expectation that the driver care for 22
the individual. 23
(B) "Child" means a biological, adopted, or foster child, a 24
stepchild, a child's spouse, or a child to whom the driver stands in 25
loco parentis, is a legal guardian, or is a de facto parent, 26
regardless of age or dependency status. 27
(C) "Grandchild" means a child of the driver's child.28
(D) "Grandparent" means a parent of the driver's parent.29
(E) "Parent" means the biological, adoptive, de facto, or foster 30
parent, stepparent, or legal guardian of a driver or the driver's 31
spouse, or an individual who stood in loco parentis to a driver when 32
the driver was a child. 33
(F) "Spouse" means a husband or wife, as the case may be, or 34
state registered domestic partner. 35
(b) Beginning January 1, 2023, a transportation network company 36
must provide to each driver operating on its driver platform 37
compensation for earned paid sick time as required by this subsection 38
and subject to the provisions of this subsection. A driver shall 39
p. 5 HB 1875
accrue one hour of earned paid sick time for every 40 hours of 1
passenger platform time worked. 2
(c) A driver is entitled to use accrued earned paid sick time 3
upon recording 90 hours of passenger platform time on the 4
transportation network company's driver platform. 5
(d) For each hour of earned paid sick time used, a driver shall 6
be paid the driver's average hourly compensation. 7
(e) A transportation network company shall establish an 8
accessible system for drivers to request and use earned paid sick 9
time. The system must be available to drivers via smartphone 10
application and online web portal. 11
(f) A driver may carry over up to 40 hours of unused earned paid 12
sick time to the next calendar year. If a driver carries over unused 13
earned paid sick time to the following year, accrual of earned paid 14
sick time in the subsequent year must be in addition to the hours 15
accrued in the previous year and carried over. 16
(g) A driver is entitled to use accrued earned paid sick time if 17
the driver has used the transportation network company's platform as 18
a driver within 90 calendar days preceding the driver's request to 19
use earned paid sick time. 20
(h) A driver is entitled to use earned paid sick time for the 21
following reasons: 22
(i) An absence resulting from the driver's mental or physical 23
illness, injury, or health condition; to accommodate the driver's 24
need for medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a mental or 25
physical illness, injury, or health condition; or an employee's need 26
for preventive medical care; 27
(ii) To allow the driver to provide care for a family member with 28
a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; care of a 29
family member who needs medical diagnosis, care, or treatment of a 30
mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; or care for 31
a family member who needs preventive medical care;32
(iii) When the driver's child's school or place of care has been 33
closed by order of a public official for any health-related reason or 34
has been closed after the declaration of an emergency by a local or 35
state government or agency, or by the federal government;36
(iv) For absences for which an employee would be entitled for 37
leave under RCW 49.76.030; ((and))38
(v) During a deactivation or other status that prevents the 39
driver from performing network services on the transportation network 40
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company's platform, unless the deactivation or status is due to a 1
verified allegation of sexual assault or physical assault perpetrated 2
by the driver; and3
(vi) To allow the driver to prepare for, or participate in, any 4
judicial or administrative immigration proceeding involving the 5
driver or driver's family member. 6
(i) If a driver does not record any passenger platform time in a 7
transportation network company's driver platform for 365 or more 8
consecutive days, any unused earned paid sick time accrued up to that 9
point with that transportation network company is no longer valid or 10
recognized. 11
(j) Drivers may use accrued days of earned paid sick time in 12
increments of a minimum of four or more hours. Drivers are entitled 13
to request four or more hours of earned paid sick time for immediate 14
use, including consecutive days of use. Drivers are not entitled to 15
use more than eight hours of earned paid sick time within a single 16
calendar day. 17
(k) A transportation network company shall compensate a driver 18
for requested hours or days of earned paid sick time no later than 14 19
calendar days or the next regularly scheduled date of compensation 20
following the requested hours or days of earned paid sick time.21
(l) A transportation network company shall not request or require 22
reasonable verification of a driver's qualifying illness or of a 23
driver's qualifying judicial or administrative immigration proceeding 24
except as would be permitted to be requested of an employee under 25
subsection (1)(g) of this section. If a transportation network 26
company requires verification pursuant to this subsection, the 27
transportation network company must compensate the driver for the 28
requested hours or days of earned paid sick time no later than the 29
driver's next regularly scheduled date of compensation after 30
satisfactory verification is provided. 31
(m) If a driver accepts an offer of prearranged services for 32
compensation from a transportation network company during the four-33
hour period or periods for which the driver requested earned paid 34
sick time, a transportation network company may determine that the 35
driver did not use earned paid sick time for an authorized purpose.36
(n) A transportation network company shall provide each driver 37
with: 38
p. 7 HB 1875
(i) Written notification of the current rate of average hourly 1
compensation while a passenger is in the vehicle during the most 2
recent calendar month for use of earned paid sick time;3
(ii) An updated amount of accrued earned paid sick time since the 4
last notification; 5
(iii) Reduced earned paid sick time since the last notification;6
(iv) Any unused earned paid sick time available for use; and7
(v) Any amount that the transportation network company may 8
subtract from the driver's compensation for earned paid sick time. 9
The transportation network company shall provide this information to 10
the driver no less than monthly. The transportation network company 11
may choose a reasonable system for providing this notification, 12
including but not limited to: A pay stub; a weekly summary of 13
compensation information; or an online system where drivers can 14
access their own earned paid sick time information. A transportation 15
network company is not required to provide this information to a 16
driver if the driver has not worked any days since the last 17
notification. 18
(o) A transportation network company may not adopt or enforce any 19
policy that counts the use of earned paid sick time as an absence 20
that may lead to or result in any action that adversely affects the 21
driver's use of the transportation network. 22
(p) A transportation network company may not take any action 23
against a driver that adversely affects the driver's use of the 24
transportation network due to his or her exercise of any rights under 25
this subsection including the use of earned paid sick time.26
(q) The department may adopt rules to implement this subsection.27
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