Page 4 - TPM Newsletter JAN 2020
P. 4

4                                                                                                                                                                                                              January 2020
                                          WA - State and Federal Changes to Over  me

        Changes to Washington &                                                        Washington’s threshold will
        Federal Over  me Rules                                                         exceed the federal level on
        The Department of Labor &                                                      January 1, 2021. At that
        Industries announced updates                                                     me, businesses with 1-50
        to Washington’s over  me rules.                                                employees will have to pay
        These rules will go into eff ect                                                exempt employees at least 1.5
        on July 1, 2020 with phased-in                                                   mes the state minimum wage,
        implementa  on through 2028.                                                   about $827 a week ($43,004 a
        These rules are meant to restore                                               year). For businesses with 51 or
        over  me protec  on to tens of thousands of workers and   more employees, the threshold will be 1.75   mes the
        create a fair minimum salary level for workers who don’t   minimum wage, about $965 a week ($50,180 a year).
        receive over  me pay.
                                                                 There will be incremental increases in the state threshold
        The new rules use a formula based on the state minimum   un  l January 1, 2028, when it reaches the fi nal 2.5   mes
        wage to determine the minimum salary a worker must       the state minimum wage. A  er that, the salary threshold
        receive to be exempt from over  me. The changes will     will rise when the minimum wage is increased for infl a  on.
        be phased in star  ng July 1, 2020, and will be fully
        implemented by January 2028.                             “We recognize how all this might impact businesses.
                                                                 That’s why the implementa  on of the new state rules
        Beginning July 1, 2020 the state minimum salary          won’t begin un  l next July, and they will be phased in
        threshold will increase to $675 a week ($35,100 a        over several years. We also have an outreach plan to
        year) for all businesses, which is 1.25   mes the state’s   assist businesses with the transi  on,” said Joel Sacks, L&I
        minimum wage. The threshold will increase incrementally   Director.
        un  l 2028 when it is expected to reach approximately
        $1,603 a week (about $83,356 a year) for an over  me     Over  me exempt requirements
        exempt worker, 2.5   mes the minimum wage. In            To be over  me exempt, an employee generally must
        addi  on, the adopted rules also update the job du  es   be paid a fi xed salary, must perform certain defi ned job
        tests that are used, with the salary threshold, to       du  es, and the salary must meet or exceed the salary
        determine if an employee can be exempt from over  me.    threshold. Employers have mul  ple op  ons to comply
                                                                 with the rules. For example, they can convert current
        Federal over  me rules take eff ect on January 1, 2020.   salaried exempt employees to salaried non-exempt
        Ini  ally, Washington employers will be required to follow   or hourly non-exempt, and pay over  me for any work
        the new federal over  me rule which takes eff ect on      over 40 hours in a workweek. To reduce over  me costs,
        January 1, 2020. The recently updated federal threshold,   employers could limit the number of hours of work to 40
        at $684 a week ($35,568 a year), will be slightly higher   per week, or less. If they wish to maintain the employee’s
        than Washington’s un  l 2021. When state and federal     exempt status, they would need to ensure the employee
        thresholds confl ict, businesses must meet the threshold   meets the du  es test requirements and is paid at least
        most favorable to employees.                             the updated salary threshold requirements.

                                               WA - Paid Family & Medical Leave
        Washington workers are now able to use Paid Family       V   Collect and remit premiums. This requirement
        and Medical Leave benefi ts. These benefi ts will generally    began January 1, 2019, however, if you did not start
        allow up to 12 weeks of paid leave to care for themselves    collec  ng premiums from employees at that   me,
        or their family per year. The Paid Family and Medical        there is no penalty and you can begin withholding at
        Leave is a statewide insurance program. Review the           any   me provided you give your employees no  ce
        following informa  on to understand your role as a small    one pay period in advance.
        business owner and stay in compliance with the new law.
                                                                 V   Display a mandatory poster to no  fy employees
                                                                     of the program. The poster will be available before
        With very few excep  ons, employers will have a
        responsibility to:                                           January 1, 2020.
                                                                 For addi  onal employer informa  on and to access the
        V   Report employee wages, hours worked and other
                                                                 mandatory poster for prin  ng, visit: h  ps://paidleave.wa.gov/
            informa  on for all employees.                       employers/

        Timber Products Manufacturers Associa  on
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