Question: Do we have to reimburse employees for expenses, and if so, which ones? Answer: Yes, there are times when employees must be reimbursed for expenses, but it depends on the expense you’re talking about and whether you’re dealing with less generous federal law or more generous state or local law. Under federal law,…
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A Montana employer’s clear hiring criteria and good documentation showing why it chose not to hire a former employee allowed it to overcome a discrimination and retaliation claim in federal court. A former employee with human resources experience applied for three part-time package handler positions with United Parcel Service (UPS). UPS…
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On May 20, 2022, Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Department of Health (DOH) made yet another update to the emergency COVID-19 (coronavirus) safety rules for temporary worker housing (TWH) in the agriculture industry. The rules took effect immediately. Here are the important changes: Education on exposure and testing positive: The previous version of the rules required…
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As summer approaches, now is the time to review your safety plans for protecting workers from heat illness hazards. California and Washington have state-specific heat stress regulations and directives that you must follow, while Arizona, Idaho, and Montana follow federal law. Meanwhile, Oregon is in the process of developing permanent…
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On March 30, 2022, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed Substitute Senate Bill 5761, which requires employers with 15 or more employees to include the wage scale or salary range in each job posting, along with a general description of all benefits and other compensation for the job, effective January 1,…
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Question: We have an employee with terrible attendance who’s now asking for 4 weeks off to have surgery in Korea, although we suspect she just wants to take time off to see family. Can we apply our attendance policy if she takes the trip and doesn’t come to work? Answer: These kinds of…
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On January 21, 2022, Washington's Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Department of Health (DOH) made updates to the existing COVID-19 (coronavirus) safety rules for temporary worker housing (TWH) in the agriculture industry. This is the fifth set of modifications since the rules were originally adopted in May 2020. Here are the changes: Cloth face…
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Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) vaccine mandate for COVID-19 (coronavirus), it’s time for covered entities to dig into the guidance and complete any compliance steps. In order to assist the regulated community with compliance, CMS has issued guidance for the first 25…
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Question: We have a non-exempt (hourly) employee in Washington who’s going to be traveling out of town for work. What travel time hours do they need to be paid for? Answer: The safest approach is to pay the employee door-to-door (from their home to the out-of-town destination and from the out-of-town destination back…
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On September 24, 2021, Washington’s Departments of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Health made very minor updates to the existing COVID-19 (coronavirus) safety rules for temporary worker housing (TWH) in the agriculture industry to align with Governor Inslee’s current “Washington Ready” Proclamation (20-25.17). As a reminder, as of the end of June the agriculture industry no longer has its own COVID-19 safety compliance…
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