Washington Enacts Several New Employment Laws
Author: Michael Cardman, Brightmine Senior Legal Editor
May 20, 2025
Changes are coming soon to Washington state.
Bills signed into law in the past week by Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson touch on immigration, recordkeeping, workplace violence and more.
The following table summarizes some of the most significant new laws:
| Bill | Topic | Summary | Effective Date |
| SB 5104 | Immigration | Protects employees from coercion in the workplace based on immigration status. | July 1, 2025 |
| HB 1308 | Recordkeeping | Amends law related to employees' access to their personnel file, including specifying that employers must provide a copy of the file, at no cost, within 21 calendar days after the employee's request and adding rights for former employees. | July 27, 2025 |
| SB 5525 | Layoffs | Enacts the Securing Timely Notification and Benefits for Laid-Off Employees Act, which requires employers to provide employees with 60 days' advance notice of a mass layoff, the closing or sale of a business, and short-term layoffs. See Washington Passes Mini-WARN Act for additional details. | July 27, 2025 |
| HB 1162 | Workplace Violence | Amends law requiring covered health care settings to develop and implement a workplace violence prevention plan, including clarifying that a comprehensive review and update of the plan must be conducted at least once per calendar year and adding requirements for the timely investigation and assessment of every workplace violence incident. | January 1, 2026 |
| HB 1213 | FMLA | Expands protections for employees in the state paid family and medical leave program, including lowering the minimum duration of leave for which benefits must be paid, amending reinstatement rights and amending requirements related to small business grants. | January 1, 2026 |
| SB 5041 | Unemployment Insurance | Amends the unemployment insurance law, providing that an individual who is unemployed due to a strike at the factory, establishment or other premises at which the individual is or was last employed, may receive weekly benefits for no more than six calendar weeks. | January 1, 2026 |
| SB 5101 | Employee Leave Management | Amends law requiring employers to provide leave and safety accommodations for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking to cover victims of a hate crime. A hate crime offense is one that is based on a person's race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical or sensory disability and includes offenses committed through online or internet-based communications. (Scheduled to be signed into law on May 20.) | January 1, 2026 |
| SB 5217 | Maternity and Pregnancy | Enacts the Healthy Starts Act, which repeals the state's current pregnancy accommodation law. The new law applies to employers with one or more employees and to religious and sectarian organizations not organized for private profit, whereas the current law applies to employers with 15 or more employees and excludes religious and sectarian organizations not organized for private profit. | January 1, 2027 |