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AWB panel says new labor laws expand employer costs, flags UI for striking workers and paid-leave changes
Summary
AWB employment-policy staff summarized new labor laws: Senate Bill 5041 allows striking workers limited unemployment benefits, and paid-family-and-medical-leave changes will phase down employer-size thresholds, among other employment-law changes that presenters said increase compliance burdens for employers.
At an AWB spring meeting panel in Vancouver, AWB labor-policy staff reviewed several labor bills passed in the 2025 legislative session and described how the measures will affect employers.
Lindsey Hoer, AWB’s employment-law lead, summarized Senate Bill 5041, which the panel described as allowing striking workers to receive unemployment insurance benefits starting the second Sunday after a strike begins and lasting up to six weeks. Hoer said the provision includes a 10-year sunset and that initial estimates place the program’s annual cost in the low single-digit millions, paid from existing Employment Security Department (ESD) accounts. She warned the change could increase strike frequency or duration and stressed employers statewide will ultimately pay through UI-related premiums.
Hoer also ran through a set of other labor measures that she said will increase employer compliance obligations: expansions to paid family and medical leave that phase employer-size protections down to smaller employers (phasing to employers with 25 or fewer beginning in 2026 and down to eight or more in 2028, as described at the meeting); a grant program to help small employers hire temporary workers; new domestic-violence leave and paid-sick-leave uses for immigration proceedings (SB 5101 and HB 1875 cited), restrictions on requiring a driver’s license in job postings where driving is not an essential function (SB 5501), limits on pre-offer background checks (HB 1747), and new personnel-records disclosure rules.
On personnel records, Hoer said the final bill removed an overly broad “catchall” category but requires employers to provide existing records (applications, disciplinary records, accommodation records, performance evaluations) within 21 days of request; the bill preserves a private right of action and requires notice of intent to sue to be included with the records request, creating what Hoer described as a potentially burdensome compliance and litigation risk for smaller employers.
AWB presenters urged attendees to prepare for implementation by reviewing HR processes and engaging AWB’s resources; they also offered to present deeper compliance briefings to SHRM and employer groups.
The panel’s account is a summary of AWB’s perspective and does not quote legislative text directly; employers should consult official bill language and ESD guidance for definitive compliance requirements.
