This bill amends RCW 49.46.130, creates a new section, and declares an emergency. It adds a limited seasonal exception for agricultural employers by allowing each employer to designate any 12 weeks in a calendar year as "special circumstance" weeks during which an agricultural employee may be worked up to 50 hours in a workweek before overtime pay is required. The bill thus modifies existing overtime law (which phased overtime thresholds to 55 hours in 2022, 48 hours in 2023, and 40 hours in 2024) by creating a specific, time-limited exception for agricultural workweeks. The bill imposes procedural requirements: employers must keep records of which weeks were designated as special circumstance weeks (in addition to records required under RCW 49.30.020), provide an annual initial good-faith estimate of the selected 12 weeks to employees at least 30 days before the first expected week (or on hiring if the employee starts sooner), give special-timing disclosure for temporary visa agricultural workers no later than the visa application date, and provide written notice at least seven days before the first special week (or on hiring if later). Employers may change designated weeks after annual notice if they give at least one week's written notice, the initial disclosure was a good-faith expectation, and the change is based on unforeseeable circumstances. The bill also bars monetary damages, statutory or civil penalties, attorneys' fees, costs, or other relief against employers for unpaid overtime claims tied to the historical exclusion in place on November 4, 2020, for claims filed on or after November 5, 2020, except it does not bar relief already awarded to dairy employees who are members of the plaintiff class in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy. The act takes effect immediately. The bill defines "agricultural employee" to include a broad set of farm and processing activities but expressly excludes "dairy employee," which is defined by NAICS code 112120. Important statutory text is missing from the provided material: the full language of subsection (6)(d) where the special-week rule appears to be placed is truncated, the text of the newly created section and the emergency clause are not included, and other cross-referenced provisions (including the full text of subsection (2)(g)) are not present.

If enacted, the bill would let farm employers pick any 12 weeks each year during which workers can be scheduled up to 50 hours in a week before overtime pay kicks in, while requiring employers to keep records of which weeks are used and to give workers a good‑faith estimate of those weeks at least 30 days before the first expected special week (or at hiring, and for temporary visa workers by the visa application date), plus a written notice no later than seven days before each special week. The act takes effect immediately, excludes dairy employees from the agricultural employee definition, allows changes to the selected weeks with one week’s written notice if the original estimate was reasonable and the change was unforeseeable, and bars damages or penalties for historical unpaid overtime claims tied to the prior exclusion for claims filed on or after November 5, 2020 (with an exception for the Martinez‑Cuevas class). This will most directly affect agricultural employers, who gain seasonal flexibility and likely lower overtime costs during those 12 weeks but take on new recordkeeping and notice duties and some compliance risk if they fail to follow the disclosure and notice rules. Agricultural employees may be paid less overtime during designated weeks and temporary visa workers have an earlier disclosure deadline, and dairy workers remain treated separately. The fuller legal mechanics and enforcement details for selecting weeks and any penalties are not fully visible in the provided text, leaving some uncertainty about how disputes over week selection will be resolved.