When people think of Washington, they think of Seattle. They do not think of other parts of the state. They may not even realize there is another part of the state. But in terms of landmass, most of Washington is not the lush, mountainous region synonymous with Seattle. It's not even rainy. Instead, to the east of Seattle is the Cascade mountain range and, east of that, the state is mostly flat and arid.

The largest city east of Seattle is Spokane (pronounced Spo-can, not Spo-cane, in case you ever visit). Its founders showed a lot of creativity in naming this city, which sits in Spokane County and along the Spokane River. In addition to being different in topography and weather, Spokane is also far more politically conservative than leftist Seattle. It does not embrace progressive causes, like Seattle's ban on plastic shopping bags (don't get me started). Instead, the home of Gonzaga University, Spokane's passion is basketball.

So it came as some surprise to those of us who practice employment law in Washington that the City of Spokane followed the lead of Seattle and other progressive cities in enacting a paid leave law. Indeed, even Spokane's mayor was surprised. The City Council overrode his veto to enact the ordinance. It went into effect on January 1, 2017.

The ordinance covers private employers with employees who work at least 240 hours within the city limits of Spokane. Governmental entities are not covered by the law. Neither are construction contractors nor temporary or seasonal workers.

Under the ordinance, employees accrue one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked in the City of Spokane. There is no accrual for work outside the city. The accrual begins immediately upon commencement of employment, but the ordinance allows employers to prohibit the use of leave until the ninety-first day of employment. The ordinance also caps the amount of leave employees can use, depending on the employer's size. If the employer has fewer than ten employees, the employee gets up to 24 hours (three days) of paid leave. Larger employers have to provide 40 hours (five days) of paid leave. The employee must use the leave in increments of at least one hour.

An employee can use leave for health reasons for themselves and their family members. The City Council voted down an amendment that would have required the employee to provide a doctor's note. An employee can also use leave to seek protection or safety from domestic violence, harassment, or stalking. And an employee can use leave if a biological or chemical disaster closes the workplace or the employee's children's school or daycare center. The ordinance does not require leave in the event of natural disasters (or my greatest fear, a zombie apocalypse).

Unused leave rolls over from one year to the next but, as with leave allotment, the maximum amount of rollover is 24 or 40 hours, depending on whether the employer has fewer or more than 10 employees. No payout is required upon separation of employment. Employers must keep records of accrual and use of leave for three years. Employers must also certify every year, with the City, that they have complied with the law.

The ordinance says that it does not replace existing PTO policies by employers that provide the level of benefits provided by the ordinance. Those policies may stay in effect.

Last, the ordinance does not allow a worker to sue for damages if the worker believes he or she has been denied his or her leave rights. Instead, it has to be reported to the City of Spokane Contracts and Business Regulations Compliance Office. That Office can impose penalties, including a double penalty for repeat violators and triple penalties for retaliation.

But the Office will likely never impose these fines. For the year 2017, the Office cannot impose sanctions against employers. Instead, the ordinance requires that the Office focus only on educating employers on their obligations under the ordinance and providing them with technical assistance. In addition, the ordinance says that it will expire in 2018, when the State of Washington is set to implement its own paid leave law.

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