News Category: CLIENT ALERTS
ALERT: FINCEN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP INFORMATION REPORTING IS BACK IN EFFECT–FOR NOW
*** UPDATE: Per the U.S. Treasury Department announcement, FinCEN is now dead except for some limited foreign entity reporting. See post at FINCEN Filings Terminated for additional information. UPDATE: On February 27th FinCEN announced that it is again reviewing deadlines and won’t take enforcement action against companies that fail to file by March 21, 2025.
ALERT: New Washington Supreme Court Ruling on Noncompete Agreements
Recently, the Washington Supreme Court held that noncompete agreements for employees earning less than twice the minimum wage must be reasonable and narrowly construed. The court found that prohibiting employees from providing any kind of assistance to competitors exceeds the statutory duty of loyalty that an employee owes to their employer. RCW 49.62.070 limits a
Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson Adds New Lawyers to Family Law and Litigation Practice Groups
Lasher Holzapfel Sperry & Ebberson is pleased to announce that Aaron Schwartz, Emily Husa and Faye Washburn have joined the firm. Aaron Schwartz joins the firm as Counsel, with nearly 20 years of litigation practice spanning a wide range of matters from simple wage disputes to complex class actions involving hundreds of millions of dollars.
2024 Washington Updates to Minimum Wage, Exempt Employees, and Noncompetes
Important developments are on the horizon for Washington State employers in 2024. Beginning on January 1, 2024, the minimum wage in Washington will go up to $16.28 per hour, up 3.4% from 2023 and the highest statewide minimum wage in the country. For employers in Seattle, SeaTac, and Tukwila you can expect an increase in
Employment Law Update: Two New Laws Expand Federal Protections for Both Pregnant and Nursing Workers
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (“PWFA”) takes effect on June 27, 2023, and requires private employers with at least 15 employees to provide reasonable accommodations to their employees for pregnancy, childbirth, recovery, and related medical conditions, including lactation. Such reasonable accommodations may include flexible hours, additional break time, and/or light work activity and must be determined via
SCAM ALERT: Be Aware of Recent Phishing Attacks on Washington Businesses
There has been a recent rash of targeted phishing attacks and misleading “filing offers” sent to Washington businesses. These scams access publicly available information from the Secretary of State’s website and use such information in attempts to obtain payment and confidential data from unsuspecting business owners. You may receive an email (often using official sounding titles)
Employment Law ALERT – New Job Posting Requirements Begin January 1, 2023
Beginning on January 1, 2023, all employers, with 15 or more employees (including employees in other states), engaging in any business, industry, profession, or activity in Washington (including recruiting for Washington-based employees) must disclose (i) a wage scale or salary range and (ii) a general description of benefits and other compensation on job postings that
Employment Law ALERT – New Seattle Independent Contractor Protections (ICP) Ordinance
For any business who uses independent contractors or has plans to hire an independent contractor who will be performing work in Seattle, an ordinance taking effect on September 1, 2022, impacts what information you must provide to the independent contractor at the start of the engagement and with each payment. The ordinance includes nearly every independent
Employment Law Alert: Silenced No More Act
Washington now prohibits nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements between employers and employees relating to certain illegal conduct. The Silenced No More Act was signed into law this spring and makes void and unenforceable any provision in an agreement with a current, former, or prospective employee or independent contractor that bars the employee or contractor from “disclos[ing] or
EMPLOYMENT LAW ALERT: THE NEW HEALTH EMERGENCY LABOR STANDARDS ACT
On May 11, 2021, Governor Inslee signed into law the Health Emergency Labor Standards Act. The Act revises the state’s workers’ compensation and industrial health and safety statutes to provide new protections for high risk and frontline workers during any public health emergency, including the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, the additional protections under