S-400                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 4256

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State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senators Fleming, McDermott and Wojahn

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Governmental Operations.

AN ACT Relating to legal holidays; and amending RCW 1.16.050.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 51, Laws of 1927 as last amended by section 1, chapter 77, Laws of 1979 and RCW 1.16.050 are each amended to read as follows:

          The following are legal holidays:  Sunday; the first day of January, commonly called New Year's Day; the third Monday of January, being celebrated as the anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther King, Jr.; the twelfth day of February, being the anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln; the third Monday of February, being celebrated as the anniversary of the birth of George Washington; the last Monday of May, commonly known as Memorial Day; the fourth day of July, being the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence; the first Monday in September, to be known as Labor Day; the eleventh day of November, to be known as Veterans' Day; the fourth Thursday in November, to be known as Thanksgiving Day; the day immediately following Thanksgiving Day; and the twenty-fifth day of December, commonly called Christmas Day.

          Employees of the state and its political subdivisions, except employees of school districts and except those nonclassified employees of institutions of higher education who hold appointments or are employed under contracts to perform services for periods of less than twelve consecutive months, shall be entitled to one paid holiday per calendar year in addition to those specified in this section.  Each employee of the state or its political subdivisions may select the day on which the employee desires to take the additional holiday provided for herein after consultation with the employer pursuant to guidelines to be promulgated by rule of the appropriate personnel authority, or in the case of local government by ordinance or resolution of the legislative authority.

          If any of the above specified state legal holidays are also federal legal holidays but observed on different dates, only the state legal holidays shall be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees of the state and its political subdivisions except that for port districts and the law enforcement and public transit employees of municipal corporations, either the federal or the state legal holiday, but in no case both, may be recognized as a paid legal holiday for employees.

          Whenever any legal holiday, other than Sunday, falls upon a Sunday, the following Monday shall be the legal holiday.

          Whenever any legal holiday falls upon a Saturday, the preceding Friday shall be the legal holiday.

          Nothing in this section shall be construed to have the effect of adding or deleting the number of paid holidays provided for in an agreement between employees and employers of political subdivisions of the state or as established by ordinance or resolution of the local government legislative authority.

          The legislature declares that the twelfth day of October shall be recognized as Columbus Day but shall not be considered a legal holiday for any purposes.