In-person:
Department of Labor & Industries
12806 Gateway Drive South
Tukwila WA 98168

A pre-hearing overview will begin at 1:00 p.m. The hearing will start at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until all oral comments are received. This public hearing will be held jointly with L&I’s Division of Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards.

L&I encourages the submittal of written comments, due by 5:00 p.m. on April 22, 2024.

This rulemaking creates new protections under chapters 296-35 and 296-360 WAC to protect the health and safety of employees who are subject to quotas in warehouse distribution centers, thereby implementing portions of Second Substitute House Bill 1762 (2SHB 1762), codified under chapter 49.84 RCW. The Division of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) shares responsibility for enforcing 2SHB 1762 with L&I’s Fraud Prevention and Labor Standards (FPLS), which conducted separate but coordinated rulemaking. These adopted rules establish the following safety standards: (1) Require quotas to take into account reasonable travel time and time to use the restroom; (2) Establish how DOSH will determine employer size for purposes of determining penalties under the rule; (3) Outline when a quota will be considered a violation of the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) as established in RCW 49.84.032. The rule includes examples of activities or equipment to help employers understand what may contribute to a quota being found unlawful; (4) Establish recordkeeping requirements; and (5) Establish and reiterates protections from adverse actions when an employee does not meet an unlawful quota, and general retaliation protections. The retaliation provisions include reiterating the rebuttable presumption established in RCW 49.84.040.