BILL REQ. #:  H-1025.1 

Read first time 01/26/09.   Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.

     AN ACT Relating to meal and rest periods for employees of health care facilities; amending RCW 49.28.150; and adding a new section to chapter 49.12 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 49.12 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Because employees of health care facilities are not engaged in the type of work that allows employees to take intermittent meal and rest periods in lieu of scheduled and uninterrupted meal and rest periods, employees of health care facilities must be provided scheduled and uninterrupted meal and rest periods of a duration no less than specified in rules adopted by the department of labor and industries under this chapter or as otherwise agreed to be provided by the employer, whichever is longer in duration.
     (2) The definitions in RCW 49.28.130 apply to this section.

Sec. 2   RCW 49.28.150 and 2002 c 112 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department of labor and industries shall investigate complaints of violations of RCW 49.28.140 and section 1 of this act. A violation of RCW 49.28.140 or section 1 of this act is a class 1 civil infraction in accordance with chapter 7.80 RCW, except that the maximum penalty is one thousand dollars for each infraction up to three infractions. If there are four or more violations of RCW 49.28.140, section 1 of this act, or any combination thereof for a health care facility, the employer is subject to a fine of two thousand five hundred dollars for the fourth violation, and five thousand dollars for each subsequent violation. The department of labor and industries is authorized to issue and enforce civil infractions according to chapter 7.80 RCW.