The purpose of this rule filing is to consider housekeeping and clarifying changes in the industrial welfare rules. The industrial welfare rules were adopted in 1974 and have not been reviewed by the department. The proposed rule will repeal and delete outdated requirements, remove duplicative provisions, establish rules consistent with current statutory requirements, specify the information for certain requirements, create cross references, and update definitions and terms for consistency and clarity. A public hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. on December 14, 2009, at the Tumwater L&I office in room S119.554.

The purpose of the rulemaking is to incorporate current administrative policies into the child labor rules at the request of the Employment Law Advisory Committee (ELAC). The rules were also reviewed and amended for clarity of ease of use. A number of changes are necessary to update the state regulations to be compatible with federal law and to remove jeopardy for Washington employers.505.