Rep. Gael Tarleton (D-Ballard) will introduce a bill on Monday that will require public and private employers in Washington with 25 or more employees to provide paid vacation leave for employees who work 20 or more hours per week on average.
“We want to build jobs that support strong families and secure our middle class,” said Tarleton. “Every worker needs vacation time to rest and re-energize. This is what an innovative economy needs to improve quality of life for everyone.”
Under the proposal, a minimum threshold of paid vacation hours would be established. After six months of employment, employees would be entitled to 40 hours of paid vacation for the subsequent 12 months.
Additional paid vacation time would be accrued based on length of employment. More details on her proposal can be found here.
“Workplace stress is the new tobacco in our society,” said John de Graaf, executive director of TAKE BACK YOUR TIME. “We need to assure that Americans have time for their health, families, and communities, and this bill is one big step in the right direction.”
“We need to restore a sense of economic security for all workers, and providing access to paid vacation is the fair thing to do,” said Andrew Villeneuve, founder and executive director of the Northwest Progressive Institute.
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries would be responsible for ensuring compliance. Nothing in the legislation requires employers to make changes to existing paid-vacation policies that are more generous than the minimums outlined in Tarleton’s bill.