By MALLORY GRUBEN
Washington state is updating its mandatory paid sick leave program to cover construction workers who have historically missed out on the benefit. The change, prompted by Senate Bill 5111, would allow construction workers to use accrued sick leave before the 90-day waiting period outlined in the sick leave law. It also requires employers to pay out any unused leave on a construction worker’s final check. It closes a loophole in the 2016 mandatory paid leave law. That law requires employers to give workers at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours they work. The accrual starts on a worker’s first day of work, but workers can’t use earned leave until at least 90 days on the job.
“Construction workers, by the nature of the trade and the career, work for multiple employers even within a month. They are dispatched from union halls to go out to different employers, so they rarely hit that 90 days with a single employer,” said Erin Frasier, assistant executive secretary of the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council. The council backed SB 5111.
The problem really came to light during the pandemic when emergency federal programs that provided paid leave for COVID quarantine expired, said Cement Masons Local 528 Business Agent Ray Dumas. Workers with COVID symptoms were supposed to notify their employer, stop working, and quarantine for at least a week. But they were no longer eligible to use paid sick leave.
“That resulted in people making difficult decisions between health and wallets,” Dumas said.
Lawmakers said they didn’t intend the program to exclude construction workers and passed SB 5111 unanimously. Now, the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) is drafting guidance for union contracts that already provide sick leave.
PUBLIC COMMENT
L&I will host two public hearings to share more information about the change and accept comments on its proposed rule. The first is Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. in room S117 of the L&I building at 7273 Linderson Way SW, Tumwater. The second happens virtually Nov. 8 at 10 a.m.; find a link to the webinar online at https://bit.ly/3FIaU7G.
