Employment Law Blog

Seattle & King County Recruiting for EMTs with a Training Class

In this week's newsletter from Mayor McGinn, I learned that Seattle and King County are offering Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training scholoarships to traditionally underrepresented diverse individuals interested in becoming EMTs. The flyer with more details about the program can be downloaded from the web.  The first class begins August 15th.  This opportunity only is available two times a year.  (Our law office has no connection to this training, just wanted to pass along the opportunity.)

Washington State Will Contact You Directly Regarding Extended Unemployment Benefits

Now that Congress recently approved another extension to federal unemployment benefits (finally!), obviously those receiving benefits want to know if they qualify for the extension.  Washington's Employment Security Department Employment Security Department recently issued a press release asking claimants to not call the claims center to inquire about their eligibility.

Employment Security Commissioner Karen Lee said in about a week the Department will mail information to everyone who is potentially eligible for the extended benefits.  It will take some time for the Department to recode the benefits into the computer system and review each claimant's status.  They are asking folks to not call and clog up the phone lines - that way there will be lines available for the newly unemployed who need to open new claims.

The extension does not increase the total weeks of benefits available, so if you have already exhausted your claim the federal extension will not be of benefit.  There is a fact sheet available with more information on extended benefits.

Senior Executives and Perspectives on Age Discrimination

I ran across a brief PR item from Grey Hair Management about the results of a 2007 survey of 548 senior level executive managers.  A majority of those who responded believed age discrimination is severe to moderate in the workplace, while 21.8 believe that it is mild or almost never happens.

Many of those surveyed believed they had lost a job opportunity because of their age, and only 2.2 percent of the executives believed age was never an issue in hiring decisions.

While the data in this survey is a little old, it certainly matches the reports I am hearing from callers to my office. Other surveys are producing similar information - a 2009 survey of executives by ExecuNet produced similar responses.

2009 Saw Record High Employee Discrimination Claims

Recently released reports from the EEOC regarding its 2009 statistics for charges of discrimination filed mirrors my experiences here in Washington.  The agency saw the second highest number of complaints of discrimination filed (93,277) in its history (FY 2009 ends in September). Potentially reflecting a more active (due to the Obama administration) and more re-energized agency, the EEOC also resolved the second highest number of charges per available investigator in the past 20 years.

Inc. discussed the report and several commentators pointed to the recession as part of the reason for the increase.  Certainly I got lots of calls from people who were terminated as part of their company's financial decline - some of them had grounds for discrimination claims and many did not. Inc. pointed out that claims filed regarding pregnancy discrimination were up 30% since 2005.  I have also experienced a significant increase in calls from women who were terminated shortly after their supervisors learned of their pregnancy or some who were "downsized" while out on maternity leave, even though they had the most seniority and had no history of disciplinary or performance problems.  Age and minority discrimination complaints were up 20%.

Seattle: New Disability Commission Formed

On January 11, 2010, the Seattle City Council voted unanimously in favor of forming a 16 member Seattle Commission for People with Disabilities. This advisory commission joins the Seattle Women's Commission and the Seattle LGBT Commission.

The Commission's duties will include advising city government and departments about issues relating to people with disabilities; ensuring the accessibility of City services and facilities; to make recommendations to the City; and to help encourage understanding and foster communication regarding disability issues. The Commission has its own website, describing its mission and posting dates of community events.

While an independent body, the Commission will receive staff and support from the Seattle Office of Civil Rights (SOCR). The SOCR website has quite a bit of helpful information, including how to file a complaint of discrimination.  SOCR also publishes an informative newsletter, to which anyone can subscribe.

Twitter Is A Job Seeker's Best Friend

I recently spoke to the Puget Sound Hospitality Human Resources Association as part of a panel discussing "social media."  I was there to talk about good employer policies, and that is a post for another day. What was fascinating to me was the information from Seattle area recruiter Kristen Fife and from the human resources managers in the audience.  It is clear that social media/social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn are becoming a very popular way to fill job vacancies. Not only are newspaper classifieds becoming obsolete, it sounds as though many of the online job classified websites are as well.

What's more, social media is also an invaluable tool for researching a company with whom you have an interview.  Just one place to learn about this - among the thousands of resources out there - is local recruiting blog "Seattle Recruiting."

And, as part of a recurring set of posts for this blog, here is a sampling of the many job openings out there that I "retweeted" this week (as of today these links are live):

• @FinanceJobsSEA : Hiring a Financial Advisor at Waddell & Reed Financial Services (Seattle, WA) http://bit.ly/cvvyBm #jobs #shjobs
• @FinanceJobsSEA: Hiring a Loan Officer/Mortgage Consultant at Acquired Funding (Seattle, WA) http://bit.ly/9WwkFc #jobs #shjobs
•  @tmj_wa_nursing   ITT Educational Services, Inc.: Nursing Interim Program Chair; Associ... (Seattle (Tukwila), WA) http://bit.ly/8BS579   #Jobs
• @SeattleTechJob Systems Administrator  http://bit.ly/9U9dRi #jobs #tech #seattle

Can My Potential Employer Require a Credit Check?

A recent article made note of a nationwide survey of human resource managers (conducted by Society for Human Resources Management) which found 60% of employers surveyed ran credit checks on some applicants.  Given the downturn in the economy and the financial difficulties mass layoffs have caused many families, this is of great concern.

Fortunately, if you are a resident of Washington State, relatively recent legislation (2008) regulates when and how a potential employer may make an inquiry into an applicant's credit history. In general, an employer may only request a credit check if the information is substantially job related and the employer's reasons for requesting the information must be disclosed to the employee/applicant. There are specific notice requirements and steps that must be followed.

Federal law requires written permission to obtain a credit check in all 50 states.  As far as I know, as of today only two states - Hawaii and Washington - have laws to further regulate credit checks in employment situations.

Steps to Minimize Chances of a Noncompete Fight

    Great post today over at Gruntled Employees - management side attorney Jay Shepherd wrote "Eight ways to guarantee yourself a noncompete lawsuit", a somewhat tongue in cheek post but it has practical advice for departing employees.

    I would add a couple more things to avoid doing as a departing or planning on departing employee:

9.  Assume the noncompete you signed isn't legal anyway. Even if it seems unfair, and even if you have searched the internet and found *lots* of information that "courts don't enforce noncompetes", don't believe it.  The courts DO enforce them (outside of California, anyway) and your belief is not a legal argument that will get you anywhere.

10.  Don't ask to review your personnel file before you leave. It is always possible that there was a noncompete or a nondisclosure agreement in that stack of 40 different forms you had to sign during orientation.  Better to know about it before you make any decisions you can't change.  Washington law says an employer must allow an employee to review her/his file, so don't take no for an answer.

Can My Employer (or Potential Employer) View My Driving Record?

Washington State's Department of Licensing maintains a case record on every person licensed to operate a motor vehicle in Washington.  These records contain information relating to a person's driving record. Until the last legislative session, there were pretty narrow restrictions on when an employer could obtain a copy of an employee's (or applicant's) record.

Prior to August 2009, an employer could obtain the driving record for those employed in or applying for a position that could "require the transportation of children under eighteen years of age, adults over sixty-five years of age, or persons with mental or physical disabilities."  As of August 2009, an employer may obtain the case records any time where driving is a "condition of employment" for the employee or applicant.  

The amendments do require that the employer not divulge the records to third parties (though there are exceptions for insurance companies).

No Change to Washington's Minimum Wage in 2010

Washington State’s minimum wage remains at $8.55 per hour due to a voter initiative passed in 1998 which requires the state minimum wage be adjusted for inflation each year according to the change in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers during the twelve months ending August 31.  The index decreased during the twelve month period of September 2008 through August 2009.  This is the first time since the initiative passed that there has been no increase in the state’s minimum wage. (You can find a history of Washington’s Minimum Wage here)

Washington is one of just 10 states that adjusts its minimum wage based on inflation.  One of the other states, Colorado, actually lowered its minimum wage by 3 cents for 2010 – from $7.28 per hour to $7.25 per hour.  

More information on Washington's minimum wage is available at wages.lni.wa.gov