AGC Seattle District Report: Primary-election review | Comments sought on L&I wage-posting policy | Prepare for historically high increases in minimum wage, exempt-salary requirements

September membership breakfast:
Sound Transit program and new-member appreciation
Join us in person at the Seattle AGC building on September 20th from 7:30-9:00 a.m. for our next membership breakfast. Our program will feature a program update by Sound Transit and how the agency is changing to meet the current construction climate. September’s breakfast will also be a celebration of AGC’s new members as we welcome them to the AGC family. Attend for great networking with your fellow AGC members, AGC leadership and Sound Transit!
Special thanks to new member TYFOOM who is sponsoring this event. Register today…

Join us in celebrating A Century of Service
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
This September 16, at Seattle’s Bell Harbor International Conference Center, we’ll come together for The Night of the Century to celebrate and reflect on the rich history of AGC of Washington, our members and our industry. We’ll celebrate our accomplishments over generations—and begin work on the next chapter of challenges and successes for our industry… for our future. Registration is now open -- click here for all the details.

Primary Election Takeaways
Unfortunately, the primary election was disappointing to those, including AGC’s BUILD PAC, who are seeking greater balance in the Legislature. Many challengers in swing districts did not fare as well as hoped. This bad news is mitigated by a few facts: One, voter turnout was low (37%), particularly among independent voters. Plus, in 2018 primary election numbers looked similarly bad for Republican candidates, several of whom nevertheless turned things around in the general election. There still seems to be some legitimate “flip” opportunities out there. AGC’s BUILD PAC will soon take a look at this landscape to determine its path forward. As of Monday morning: Races to watch in the general are in the 26th Senate race where Jesse Young (R) who is taking on Emily Randell. When votes of all Republican and Democrat votes are tallied, Young is down by 3.55% (1,734 votes). In the 26th’s open House seat Spencer Hutchins (R) is down by .62% (296 votes)! In the 47th Senate race, we are still waiting to see if Bill Boyce (R) will be taking on Satwinder Kaur or Claudia Kaufman who are separated by 64 votes. The two-House seats in the 42nd are poised to flip.

Comments sought for L&I wage-posting policy draft

L&I is accepting comments on its draft administrative policy for the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act. This Act includes the requirement to provide salary and benefits information in job-opening postings.
The draft policy includes new details about how the new "wage-posting" law is intended to work. For example, with regard to questions about an out-of-state employer hiring for a position in-state, or on out-of-state position being hired by an in-state employer, the draft policy says all are covered by the law. An out-of-state employer would have to provide salary and benefit information for positions in Washington, and Washington employers would have to provide the information for any out-of-state position.
These and other details can be found, and comments submitted, here. Read more...

Washington employers: prepare for historically high increases in minimum wage, exempt-salary requirements

(Susan Eberle Stahlfeld, Partner, and David E. Worley, Associate, Miller Nash LLP)
As all Washington employers know, Washington employees who are nonexempt (e.g., not salaried) must be paid an hourly minimum wage. Additionally, Washington establishes minimum salaries for exempt (i.e., salaried) employees, which tracks the minimum wage.
As all Washington employers also know, Washington’s minimum wage is indexed to inflation and goes up every January 1.
Given the high rate of inflation this year, Washington employers should anticipate significant increases in both the state minimum wage and exempt-salary requirements, effective January 1, 2023. Employers with Seattle/SeaTac hourly employees will likely see even more substantial increases for those employees.
The Washington Minimum Wage Act (MWA) RCW 49.46, sets the minimum hourly wage all nonexempt employees must be paid in the state of Washington, presently $14.49/hour. Seattle and SeaTac have local ordinances establishing higher minimum wages within those municipalities, of $17.27 and $17.54/hour, respectively, for 2022. Read more...