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ESD outlines rulemaking to implement State WARN Act and related rule updates
Summary
Legislation and rules coordinator Stephanie Frazee said ESD adopted several rule changes this year, published effective dates, and is drafting rules to implement Senate Bill 5525 (State WARN Act), including employee-information handling and exception documentation; a hearing was held that morning.
Stephanie Frazee, legislation and rules coordinator for the Employment Security Department, gave the committee an update on recent and pending rulemakings.
Frazee said the agency completed rule amendments to make filing requirements with the commissioner’s review office more consistent; that rule was adopted Oct. 29 and became effective Nov. 29. She also summarized rule changes addressing transportation network companies, and rules on quitting for reductions in hours or compensation and relief of benefit charges for certain part-time employers; those rules were adopted Jan. 15 and become effective Feb. 15.
On implementation of Senate Bill 5525 (the State WARN Act), Frazee said the agency updated its governance statement (WAC C190-2-11, as described in the meeting) to include title 49 RCW and is drafting proposed rule language addressing the employee information the department receives in employer notices. She said the proposed rule would clarify that the department will use employee information to administer the Employment Security Act under title 50 and that a hearing on the rule language was being held that morning; the agency expected to finalize the rule in the coming weeks.
Frazee also noted the agency is drafting documentation requirements for employers seeking exceptions to notice obligations under Section 7 of the bill and is considering whether further definitions (for example, "unforeseeable" in the context of layoffs) would be helpful for implementation.
Joy Adams supplemented the update with an added slide about a forthcoming CR101 rulemaking to align work-registration requirements with a new workforce information system that will go live in May; the current system auto-registers claimants in the state labor exchange but the new system will not, so the rule must be updated to reflect the technology change.
Committee members asked no substantive questions on these rule items at this meeting.
