A: No, there isn’t an exemption from Washington’s paid leave law for truck drivers. The definition of employee in Washington’s minimum wage act is what controls when it comes to which employees are covered by the new paid sick leave requirements and there’s no exemption for truck drivers. This means you’ll need to comply with all requirements of the law for these individuals, including providing 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. That said, even if you’re paying them per mile, you should still be tracking their hours for other purposes, including overtime and Department of Transportation hours of service regulations, thereby allowing you to have a record of hours worked.
Q: Is there an exemption from Washington’s paid sick leave law for truck drivers? If not, how do we comply with Washington’s paid leave requirement of providing 1 hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked when we pay our truck drivers in Washington on a cents per mile basis, rather than hourly?
