AN ACT Relating to nursing home wages; adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The purpose of this chapter is to improve the care and treatment of nursing home patients by requiring that all nursing home employees be paid the same wages and be provided the same fringe benefits as hospital employees performing comparable work in the same geographical area. Wage and fringe benefit parity between nursing home and hospital employees will enable nursing homes to employ and retain better trained and more experienced nurses, nurses aides, therapists, dieticians, facilities maintenance staff, and other employees whose skills and experience are essential to improved patient care and treatment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter:

(1) "Board" means the personnel board established under RCW 41.06.110.

(2) "Convalescent and chronic care" includes, but is not limited to, any or all procedures commonly employed in waiting on the sick, such as administration of medicines, preparation of special diets, providing bedside nursing care, application of dressings and bandages, and carrying out the treatment prescribed by a duly licensed practitioner of the healing arts. Convalescent or chronic care also includes care of mentally incompetent persons. This definition does not include general hospitals or other places that provide care and treatment for the acutely ill or maintain and operate facilities for major surgery or obstetrics. This definition does not include any boarding home, guest home, hotel, or related institution that is held forth to the public as providing, and that is operated to give only board, room, and laundry to persons not in need of medical or nursing treatment or supervision except in the case of temporary acute illness.

(3) "Department" means the department of social and health services.

(4) "Employees" means all nursing home employees except nursing home administrators as defined in RCW 18.52.020.

(5) "Fringe benefits" means compensation for:

(a) Leave time, including vacation, holiday, civil, and personal leave;

(b) Employer retirement contributions;

(d) Other benefits included in RCW 41.06.163 or adopted by administrative action of the board.

(6) "Hospital" means public, private, and state hospitals.

(7) "Medical aid recipients" means those persons without income or resources sufficient to secure necessary nursing home care and treatment for whom the department purchases nursing home care and treatment by contract under RCW 74.09.120.

(8) "Nursing home" means any home, place, or institution that operates or maintains facilities providing convalescent or chronic care, or both, for a period in excess of twenty-four consecutive hours for three or more patients not related by blood or marriage to the operator, who by reason of illness or infirmity, are unable to care for themselves properly.

(9) "Parity" means equality.

(10) "Parity area" means those geographic areas established by the board under section 4 of this act that reflect the actual labor markets in which nursing homes and hospitals compete for employees in the same job classifications.

(11) "Wages" means basic compensation whether by annual, monthly, or weekly salary, hourly rate of pay, or other unit of computation.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. After the effective date of this act, all nursing homes shall pay their employees wages and shall provide their employees fringe benefits at least equal to the prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits paid and provided hospital employees performing comparable work in the same parity area. After the effective date of this act, the department is required to reimburse nursing homes for the portion of the cost of this mandated wage parity attributable to state nursing home care contracts for medical aid recipients made under RCW 74.09.120.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The board shall establish schedules of job classifications, prevailing rates of wage and fringe benefits, and parity areas necessary for the implementation of this chapter. The schedules of prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits and, if necessary, the schedules of job classifications and parity areas, so established shall be revised biennially as part of the salary and fringe benefit surveys conducted by the department of personnel pursuant to RCW 41.06.160. The costs and expenses of the board and the department of personnel incurred under this chapter shall be paid from the general fund and shall not be charged against the department service fund.

(2) The schedules of job classifications established and revised by the board shall allow the implementation of wage and fringe benefit parity between nursing home and hospital employees performing comparable work in the same parity areas. The schedules of job classifications shall include an undivided job classification for all nonlicensed employees. All schedules of job classifications shall include seniority steps.

(3) The schedules of prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits established and revised by the board shall incorporate the prevailing rates definition established pursuant to RCW 41.06.163. The schedules of prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits shall establish, to the greatest extent statistically accurate, wage and fringe benefit parity between nursing home and hospital employees performing comparable work in the same parity areas. The schedules of prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits shall include seniority steps and shall take into account projected increases in the cost-of-living between the time the schedules are established and their effective dates.

(4) The schedules of parity areas established and revised by the board shall reflect actual labor markets in which nursing homes and hospitals compete for employees within the job classifications established and revised by the board. Each nursing home affected by this chapter shall be identified by the department and placed by the board in the appropriate parity area.

(5) The board shall adopt rules, consistent with this chapter, regarding the basis and procedures to be followed for establishing the schedules of job classifications, prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits, and parity areas necessary for the implementation of this chapter. The rules adopted by the board are subject to chapter 34.04 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) The board shall submit its schedules of job classifications, prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits, and parity areas to the department at least one hundred twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session of the state legislature.

(2) The department shall, within sixty days of receiving the schedules from the board, notify each nursing home of the schedules applicable to that nursing home. The schedules shall be effective on July 1 of each year in which a regular session of the legislature is convened.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) After the effective date of this act, the department shall reimburse nursing homes for the state portion of the actual cost of the nursing home wage and fringe benefit parity required by this chapter. The state portion shall be determined by the ratio of medical aide recipient patient days to total patient days in each nursing home. Reimbursement by the department shall cover the state portion of the actual cost of all wages and fringe benefits paid and provided all nursing home employees under the terms of this chapter. The department may reimburse nursing homes for reasonable employee wage and fringe benefits paid at levels above the schedules of prevailing rates of wages and fringe benefits established by the board.

(2) The department shall, from time to time, audit nursing homes to assure compliance with this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 7 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The director of the department and the personnel board are authorized to take such steps immediately as are necessary to ensure that this act is implemented on its effective date.