H-3726.1 _______________________________________________
HOUSE BILL 2777
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 57th Legislature 2002 Regular Session
By Representatives Clements, Grant, Chandler and Lisk
Read first time 01/28/2002. Referred to Committee on Commerce & Labor.
AN ACT Relating to enhancing the competitiveness of Washington's agricultural and food processing industries; amending RCW 49.46.020, 49.17.040, and 49.17.050; adding a new section to chapter 49.46 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 49.17 RCW; and declaring an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 49.46.020 and 1999 c 1 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) ((Until January
1, 1999, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has
reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than four dollars
and ninety cents per hour.
(2) Beginning
January 1, 1999, and until January 1, 2000, every employer shall pay to each of
his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate
of not less than five dollars and seventy cents per hour.
(3) Beginning
January 1, 2000, and until January 1, 2001, every employer shall pay to each of
his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate
of not less than six dollars and fifty cents per hour.
(4)(a) Beginning on
January 1, 2001, and each following))
(a) Except as set forth under (c) of this subsection, on January 1st as
set forth under (b) of this subsection, every employer shall pay to each of his
or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of
not less than the amount established under (b) of this subsection.
(b) On ((September
30, 2000, and on each following)) September 30th, the department of labor
and industries shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate to maintain
employee purchasing power by increasing the current year's minimum wage rate by
the rate of inflation. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to
the nearest cent using the consumer price index for urban wage earners and
clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, for the twelve months prior to
each September 1st as calculated by the United States department of labor.
Each adjusted minimum wage rate calculated under this subsection (((4)))
(1)(b) takes effect on the following January 1st.
(((5))) (c)
Every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the
age of eighteen years and who performs services in agriculture as defined in
section 2 of this act wages at a rate of not less than six dollars and ninety
cents per hour.
(2) The director shall by regulation establish the minimum wage for employees under the age of eighteen years.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 49.46 RCW to read as follows:
(1) For purposes of RCW 49.46.020, "services in agriculture" means employment:
(a) On an independent farm, in the employ of any person, in connection with the cultivation of the soil, or in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity, including raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of livestock, bees, poultry, and furbearing animals and wildlife, or in the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of an independent farm in connection with the operation, management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of such farm and its tools and equipment; or
(b) In office management or other support services directly related to employment described in this subsection (1).
(2) For purposes of this section, "independent farm" means any farm where the owner or tenant or other operator of the farm uses the services of a separate commercial entity to transport, broker, or otherwise sell and distribute the product of that farm for eventual sale at retail. The director must adopt rules for the certification of independent farms. Any farm without the capacity to pass-through production costs using an affiliated retail seller is presumed an independent farm.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 49.17 RCW to read as follows:
Rules dealing with musculoskeletal disorders that affect services in agriculture under RCW 49.46.020, adopted on May 26, 2000, by the director, and codified as WAC 296-62-05101 through 296-62-05176, shall have no force or effect. The director shall not adopt any new or amended rules dealing with musculoskeletal disorders that are substantially the same as these rules.
Sec. 4. RCW 49.17.040 and 1973 c 80 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
Except as provided
in section 3 of this act, the director shall make, adopt, modify, and
repeal rules ((and regulations)) governing safety and health standards
for conditions of employment as authorized by this chapter after a public
hearing in conformance with the administrative procedure act and the provisions
of this chapter. At least thirty days prior to such public hearing, the
director shall cause public notice of such hearing to be made in newspapers of
general circulation in this state, of the date, time, and place of such public
hearing, along with a general description of the subject matter of the proposed
rules and information as to where copies of any rules ((and regulations))
proposed for adoption may be obtained and with a solicitation for
recommendations in writing or suggestions for inclusion or changes in such
rules to be submitted not later than five days prior to such public hearing.
Any preexisting rules adopted by the department of labor and industries
relating to health and safety standards in work places subject to the
jurisdiction of the department shall remain effective insofar as such rules are
not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter.
Sec. 5. RCW 49.17.050 and 1998 c 224 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
Except as provided
in RCW 49.17.040, in the adoption of rules ((and regulations)) under
the authority of this chapter, the director shall:
(1) Provide for the
preparation, adoption, amendment, or repeal of rules ((and regulations))
of safety and health standards governing the conditions of employment of
general and special application in all work places;
(2) Provide for the adoption of occupational health and safety standards which are at least as effective as those adopted or recognized by the United States secretary of labor under the authority of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-596; 84 Stat. 1590);
(3) Provide a method of encouraging employers and employees in their efforts to reduce the number of safety and health hazards at their work places and to stimulate employers and employees to institute new and to perfect existing programs for providing safe and healthful working conditions;
(4) Provide for the promulgation of health and safety standards and the control of conditions in all work places concerning gases, vapors, dust, or other airborne particles, toxic materials, or harmful physical agents which shall set a standard which most adequately assures, to the extent feasible, on the basis of the best available evidence, that no employee will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity even if such employee has regular exposure to the hazard dealt with by such standard for the period of his or her working life; any such standards shall require where appropriate the use of protective devices or equipment and for monitoring or measuring any such gases, vapors, dust, or other airborne particles, toxic materials, or harmful physical agents;
(5) Provide for appropriate reporting procedures by employers with respect to such information relating to conditions of employment which will assist in achieving the objectives of this chapter;
(6) Provide for the frequency, method, and manner of the making of inspections of work places without advance notice; and,
(7) Provide for the publication and dissemination to employers, employees, and labor organizations and the posting where appropriate by employers of informational, education, or training materials calculated to aid and assist in achieving the objectives of this chapter;
(8) Provide for the
establishment of new and the perfection and expansion of existing programs for
occupational safety and health education for employers and employees, and, in
addition institute methods and procedures for the establishment of a program
for voluntary compliance solely through the use of advice and consultation with
employers and employees with recommendations including recommendations of methods
to abate violations relating to the requirements of this chapter and all
applicable safety and health standards and rules ((and regulations
promulgated)) adopted pursuant to the authority of this chapter;
(9) Provide for the adoption of safety and health standards requiring the use of safeguards in trenches and excavations and around openings of hoistways, hatchways, elevators, stairways, and similar openings;
(10) Provide for the promulgation of health and safety standards requiring the use of safeguards for all vats, pans, trimmers, cut off, gang edger, and other saws, planers, presses, formers, cogs, gearing, belting, shafting, coupling, set screws, live rollers, conveyors, mangles in laundries, and machinery of similar description, which can be effectively guarded with due regard to the ordinary use of such machinery and appliances and the danger to employees therefrom, and with which the employees of any such work place may come in contact while in the performance of their duties and prescribe methods, practices, or processes to be followed by employers which will enhance the health and safety of employees in the performance of their duties when in proximity to machinery or appliances mentioned in this subsection;
(11) Certify that no later than twenty business days prior to the effective date of any significant legislative rule, as defined by RCW 34.05.328, a meeting of impacted parties is convened to: (a) Identify ambiguities and problem areas in the rule; (b) coordinate education and public relations efforts by all parties; (c) provide comments regarding internal department training and enforcement plans; and (d) provide comments regarding appropriate evaluation mechanisms to determine the effectiveness of the new rule. The meeting shall include a balanced representation of both business and labor from impacted industries, department personnel responsible for the above subject areas, and other agencies or key stakeholder groups as determined by the department. An existing advisory committee may be utilized if appropriate.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.
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