SIGNIFICANT EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATES FOR 2025

Employers should be mindful of several changes to the state’s employment laws, which are set to take effect in July 2025.  These legal developments are generally summarized as follows:

The protections afforded by the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (WEPOA) were significantly expanded to cover not only sex (gender) but also other protected classes as well.  HB 1905 (adopted during the 2023/2024 Session and effective July 1, 2025), added a broader set of protected classes to the act, to now include: age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, veteran or military status, disability, and the use of service animals.  With this newly-added set of protected classes, the WEPOA requires that employer compensation practices and policies be free from discrimination across the expanded list.  While this amendment does not alter the WEPOA’s original restrictions and requirements for employer recruitment and promotion processes, it substantially increases the potential for claims under the WPEOA.  Employers are therefore encouraged to revisit their recruitment/promotion publications and compensation practices to ensure compliance under the WPEOA. 

HB 1308, an act “relating to access to personnel records” (effective July 27, 2025), now requires that employers provide employees (and former employees) with a physical copy of their personnel file, at no cost to the employee, within 21 calendar days after receiving a written request therefor.  This is distinguishable from the former legal requirement that an employer allow an employee to inspect their personnel file within a reasonable period of time.

The act also adds language requiring the employer to furnish, within 21 calendar days of receiving a request from a former employee (or their designee), a “signed written statement” stating the effective date of the former employee’s discharge, whether the employer had a reason for the discharge, and if so, the reasons for the discharge.  

HB 1747 (takes effect July 1, 2026 for employers with 15 or more employees and July 1, 2027 for employers with fewer than 15 employees) expands protections for applicants and employees under the Washington Fair Chance Act.  Under this amendment, employers may not obtain an applicant’s or employee’s criminal records or otherwise inquire about the applicant’s or employee’s criminal history until after the applicant or employee has been extended a conditional offer of employment or promotion/transfer/reassignment.  An employer may not take a tangible adverse employment action based solely on the applicant’s or employee’s conviction record unless the employer has a legitimate business reason for taking such action.  In such case, the employer must first provide the applicant/employee notice of the record(s) upon which the employer is relying and afford the applicant or employee at least two business days to correct or explain the record or provide information on the applicant’s or employee’s rehabilitation, good conduct, work experience, education, and training.  If the employer after this opportunity proceeds with the adverse employment action, the employer must provide the applicant or employee a written explanation for the decision, including specific documentation as to its reasoning and assessment of each of the relevant factors, including the impact of the conviction upon the position or employer’s business operations, and the employer’s consideration of the applicant’s or employee’s rehabilitation, good conduct, work experience, education, and training.

The amendment further prohibits employers from considering an applicant’s or employee’s arrest record, unless the applicant’s or employee’s arrest is pending trial.  Juvenile conviction records may not be considered.

HB 1875 (effective July 27, 2025), amending the Washington Paid Sick Leave Laws, requires employers to allow an employee to use their paid sick leave to “prepare for, or participate in, any judicial or administrative immigration proceeding involving the employee or employee’s family member.”  In support of such leave, an employee may submit any of the following verifications, which the employer must accept:  (i) certification that the employee or employee’s family member is involved in a qualifying immigration proceeding from an advocate for immigrants or refugees, an attorney, a member of the clergy or other professional, from whom the employee or employee’s family member sought assistance in connection with the proceeding; or (ii) the employee’s own written statement.  The verification must not disclose, and the employer may not inquire about, any personally identifiable information about a person’s immigration status or immigration protection.  Employers are encouraged to update their paid sick leave policies to reflect this additional use/protection of paid sick leave.

SB 5104, an act “relating to protecting employees from coercion in the workplace based on immigration status” (effective July 1, 2025), subjects employers who use an employee’s immigration status to coerce the employee in furtherance of violations of wage payment requirements, condition of labor requirements or agricultural labor requirements to civil penalties ($1,000 for a first violation, up to $10,000 for repeated violations).  This act reinforces protections for immigrant workers.

SB 5501 (effective July 27, 2025) prohibits employers from requiring a valid driver’s license as a condition of employment unless driving is an essential job function or is related to a legitimate business purpose for the position.  Employers found to have violated this prohibition are subject to civil penalties and may be liable to an affected applicant or employee for actual damages, statutory damages equal to the actual damages or $5,000, whichever is greater, plus interest.

Employers are encouraged to revisit their job descriptions/postings/policies to ensure compliance with this new restriction.

SB 5525 (effective July 27, 2025) essentially creates a state “mini-WARN Act” for private employers of 50 or more employees, excluding part-time employees.  (Part-time employees are those employees who work on average less than 20 hours per week, or employees who have been employed for less than six of the 12 months preceding the notice date of the mass layoff or business closure).  Such employers must now notify the Employment Security Department and affected employees, in writing, at least 60 days in advance of a business closure or mass layoff resulting in a reduction in force of 50 or more full-time employees during any 30-day period.

Disclaimer:  This publication is intended to be informational only, to update our clients and friends as to recent legal developments.  It is not intended to be, nor should it be used as, a substitute for specific legal advice, which may only be given in response to inquiries regarding particular situations.