(1) The legislature finds and declares that individual liberty and bodily autonomy are fundamental rights protected by the United States Constitution and the Washington Constitution. Employers should not have the authority to require or coerce invasive procedures as a condition of employment. Technological advances have made it possible to implant microchips and other tracking devices into the human body; however, without clear legal safeguards, such practices threaten personal privacy, individual dignity, and freedom of choice in the workplace.
(2) It is the intent of the legislature to protect employees and job applicants from any form of compelled implantation of microchips or similar technology by employers. Nothing in this act is intended to limit medically necessary implants or devices that are implanted for a legitimate health care purpose and with a patient's voluntary, informed consent.
(3) This act reinforces the principle that decisions about a person's body belong to the individual — not to their employer; and that employers should compete for talent through wages, benefits, and working conditions — not through invasive monitoring technologies. The legislature further intends to provide a private right of action so that individuals harmed by violations of this act may seek redress in court.
(1) An employer may not request, require, or coerce any employee to have a microchip implanted in the employee for any reason.
(2) An employee aggrieved by a violation of this section may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction. The court may award a prevailing employee injunctive relief, actual damages, punitive damages, and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
(3) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply unless the context clearly requires otherwise:
(a) "Employer" means any person, firm, corporation, partnership, business trust, legal representative, or other business entity which engages in any business, industry, profession, or activity in this state and employs one or more employees, and includes the state, any state institution, state agency, political subdivisions of the state, and any municipal corporation or quasi-municipal corporation.
(b) "Employee" means an individual who is employed by the employer or who is an applicant for employment with the employer.
(c) "Microchip" means a product, device, or technology that is subcutaneously implanted in the body of an individual and contains a unique identification number and personal information that can be noninvasively retrieved or transmitted with an external scanning device. "Microchip" does not include a device that is implanted in an individual if the device is used in the diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, or prevention of a health condition, and only transmits such information as is necessary to carry out the diagnosis, monitoring, treatment, or prevention of the health condition.
(d) "Subcutaneously" means beneath the skin. "Subcutaneously" does not include information temporarily attached to the skin by an adhesive strip or bracelet upon which or within which personal information is maintained or stored.