Vision Payroll

The Washington Department of Labor and Industries announced recently that pursuant to Revised Code of Washington §49.46.020, the minimum wage for the state of Washington will remain at $8.55 per hour for 2010. The law requires an adjustment to the minimum wage be calculated each year. The adjustment is tied to the change in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the 12 months ending in August. Since there is no provision in the law to decrease the minimum wage when the CPI declines, the wage will remain unchanged. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Washington minimum wage or visit our Minimum Wage Chart.

The Washington Department of Labor and Industries announced recently that pursuant to Revised Code of Washington §49.46.020, the minimum wage for the state of Washington will increase to $8.55 per hour effective January 1, 2009. The law requires an adjustment to the minimum wage be calculated each year. The adjustment is tied to the change in the federal Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the 12 months ending in August. The 5.9% increase in the CPI-W will result in an increase of $0.48 for 2009. Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on the Washington minimum wage increase or visit our Minimum Wage Chart.

In late June, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled that the eligibility criteria listed in the state law were not exclusive. Therefore, if applicants for unemployment benefits had other good reasons to quit their jobs, it was within the discretion of the Employment Security Department (ESD) to approve such applicants for benefits. In response the ESD has issued an emergency rule, under which applicants who quit due to work-related conditions might still be eligible for unemployment benefits. This “allows Employment Security to begin reviewing all voluntary-quit decisions that are not yet final. These include decisions still in process at Employment Security or under appeal at the Office of Administrative Hearing or at the Commissioner’s Review Office.” Contact Vision Payroll if you have any questions on this emergency ruling by the Washington ESD.

Jerry and James Schram, brothers and business partners in Schram’s Excavating of Vancouver, WA agreed to pay $356,000 in back wages and unpaid workers’ compensation premiums. As part of a guilty plea, both brothers were given two years probation and 240 hours of community service. Jerry Schram will also serve 30 days in jail as part of the settlement. The back wages were to compensate employees who did not receive overtime pay even though they worked more than 40 hours a week. Schram’s Excavating pled guilty to hiding information used to set their workers’ comp premiums, which resulted in the company paying lower premiums.