AN ACT Relating to minor league baseball players subject to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement regarding employment status; amending RCW 49.46.010, 49.46.070, and 49.12.050; and reenacting and amending RCW 49.12.187.

(a) Any individual (i) employed as a hand harvest laborer and paid on a piece rate basis in an operation which has been, and is generally and customarily recognized as having been, paid on a piece rate basis in the region of employment; (ii) who commutes daily from his or her permanent residence to the farm on which he or she is employed; and (iii) who has been employed in agriculture less than thirteen weeks during the preceding calendar year;

(c) Any individual employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity or in the capacity of outside salesperson as those terms are defined and delimited by rules of the director. However, those terms shall be defined and delimited by the human resources director pursuant to chapter 41.06 RCW for employees employed under the director of personnel's jurisdiction;

(d) Any individual engaged in the activities of an educational, charitable, religious, state or local governmental body or agency, or nonprofit organization where the employer-employee relationship does not in fact exist or where the services are rendered to such organizations gratuitously. If the individual receives reimbursement in lieu of compensation for normally incurred out-of-pocket expenses or receives a nominal amount of compensation per unit of voluntary service rendered, an employer-employee relationship is deemed not to exist for the purpose of this section or for purposes of membership or qualification in any state, local government, or publicly supported retirement system other than that provided under chapter 41.24 RCW;

(e) Any individual employed full time by any state or local governmental body or agency who provides voluntary services but only with regard to the provision of the voluntary services. The voluntary services and any compensation therefor shall not affect or add to qualification, entitlement, or benefit rights under any state, local government, or publicly supported retirement system other than that provided under chapter 41.24 RCW;

(f) Any newspaper vendor, carrier, or delivery person selling or distributing newspapers on the street, to offices, to businesses, or from house to house and any freelance news correspondent or "stringer" who, using his or her own equipment, chooses to submit material for publication for free or a fee when such material is published;

(i) Any individual employed by any charitable institution charged with child care responsibilities engaged primarily in the development of character or citizenship or promoting health or physical fitness or providing or sponsoring recreational opportunities or facilities for young people or members of the armed forces of the United States;

(j) Any individual whose duties require that he or she reside or sleep at the place of his or her employment or who otherwise spends a substantial portion of his or her work time subject to call, and not engaged in the performance of active duties;

(l) Any individual who holds a public elective or appointive office of the state, any county, city, town, municipal corporation or quasi municipal corporation, political subdivision, or any instrumentality thereof, or any employee of the state legislature;

(p) An individual who is at least 16 years old but under twenty-one years old, in his or her capacity as a player for a junior ice hockey team that is a member of a regional, national, or international league and that contracts with an arena owned, operated, or managed by a public facilities district created under chapter 36.100 RCW; or

(q) Any individual who has entered into a contract to play baseball at the minor league level and who is compensated pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for wages and working conditions;

(4) "Employer" includes any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any person or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee;

(5) "Occupation" means any occupation, service, trade, business, industry, or branch or group of industries or employment or class of employment in which employees are gainfully employed;

(6) "Retail or service establishment" means an establishment seventy-five percent of whose annual dollar volume of sales of goods or services, or both, is not for resale and is recognized as retail sales or services in the particular industry;

(7) "Wage" means compensation due to an employee by reason of employment, payable in legal tender of the United States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value, subject to such deductions, charges, or allowances as may be permitted by rules of the director.

(1) Every employer subject to any provision of this chapter or of any regulation issued under this chapter shall make, and keep in or about the premises wherein any employee is employed, a record of the name, address, and occupation of each of his or her employees, the rate of pay, and the amount paid each pay period to each such employee, the hours worked each day and each workweek by such employee, and such other information as the director shall prescribe by regulation as necessary or appropriate for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter or of the regulations thereunder. Such records shall be open for inspection or transcription by the director or his or her authorized representative at any reasonable time. Every such employer shall furnish to the director or to his or her authorized representative on demand a sworn statement of such records and information upon forms prescribed or approved by the director.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the provisions of this section apply to individuals covered by RCW 49.46.010(3)(q) with the exception of records related to the hours worked each day and each workweek by such employee or employees, the time of day and day of week each workweek begins, and any other similar information that the director shall prescribe by regulation as necessary or appropriate related to records of hours worked for such individuals.

(1) This chapter shall not be construed to interfere with, impede, or in any way diminish the right of employees to bargain collectively with their employers through representatives of their own choosing concerning wages or standards or conditions of employment. However, rules adopted under this chapter regarding appropriate rest and meal periods as applied to employees in the construction trades may be superseded by a collective bargaining agreement negotiated under the national labor relations act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq., if the terms of the collective bargaining agreement covering such employees specifically require rest and meal periods and prescribe requirements concerning those rest and meal periods.

(2) Employees of public employers may enter into collective bargaining contracts, labor/management agreements, or other mutually agreed to employment agreements that specifically vary from or supersede, in part or in total, rules adopted under this chapter regarding appropriate rest and meal periods.

(3) Rules adopted under this chapter regarding appropriate rest and meal periods as applied to employees who have entered into a contract to play baseball at the minor league level may be superseded by a collective bargaining agreement negotiated under the national labor relations act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq., if the terms of the collective bargaining agreement covering such employees expressly provides for wages and working conditions.

(2) Rules adopted under this chapter regarding records of hours worked do not apply to employees who have entered into a contract to play baseball at the minor league level and who are compensated pursuant to the terms of a collective bargaining agreement that expressly provides for wages and working conditions.