This bill amends and adds multiple sections to chapter 49.46 RCW. It sets a new schedule of statewide minimum wages for employees aged 18 and over from January 1, 2026 through January 1, 2032 and establishes an annual inflation adjustment process (using the CPI‑W) beginning with a calculation on September 30, 2031 that takes effect the following January 1. It reenacts and amends the statewide paid sick leave law (RCW 49.46.210), clarifies that tips and most service charges are additional to and may not be counted toward the hourly minimum wage, and adds new paid leave requirements: a new employer-paid vacation leave provision (Sec. 7) and a paid bereavement leave provision (Sec. 8). The bill also preserves many existing statutory exclusions and updates definitions, and it preserves the Department of Labor & Industries as the administering agency. The bill creates new enforcement and procedural mechanisms and modifies penalties. It gives the director/department stop work authority to order an employer or transportation network company (TNC) to cease operations where the act has been violated, requires the employer or TNC to pay workers their normal scheduled pay during the stop work period, allows probationary reporting conditions upon release, and authorizes civil penalties up to $5,000 per day for operating in violation of a stop work order (with inflation adjustments calculated annually starting September 30, 2028). Employers/TNCs may contest a stop work order by filing a petition for judicial review within 72 hours, subject to the judicial stay standard in RCW 34.05.550. The department may adopt implementing rules and may vary penalty amounts by employer size. The bill makes substantial, detailed changes specific to transportation network companies and drivers. It establishes driver‑specific earned paid sick time (accrual of 1 hour per 40 hours of passenger platform time, use after 90 recorded hours, carryover limits, forfeiture after 365 days of inactivity, payment at the driver’s average hourly compensation excluding tips, minimum increments and daily caps, and timing for payment), earned paid vacation time (2.3 hours per 40 hours, similar eligibility/use rules), driver notification and receipt requirements, guaranteed per‑minute/per‑mile/per‑trip minimum compensation rates effective December 31, 2022 with annual adjustments tied to state minimum wage, requirements that tips be remitted to drivers and not counted toward guaranteed minimums, limits on deductions, a quarterly $0.15 per trip remittance to a driver resource center fund beginning July 1, 2024, procedures for voluntary per‑trip deductions, required electronic trip receipts and reporting, prohibitions on retaliation and on counting required leave as discipline, and a required account deactivation appeals process to be negotiated between each TNC and a certified driver resource center with department review and approval. The act’s effective date is January 1, 2026. Some portions of the bill text and numbered subsection cross‑references provided in the extracts are incomplete or cut off in places, so certain procedural details and full statutory wording are not available from the material provided.

If enacted, employers across Washington will face steadily higher mandated wages through 2031 (peaking at $25.00/hour) with annual inflation adjustments starting in 2032, plus expanded paid-time-off obligations: existing paid sick leave rules remain (generally 1 hour per 40 worked with a 40-hour carryover cap and 90-day eligibility), employers must begin providing paid vacation leave beginning January 1, 2027 (accruing at least 2.3 hours per 40 worked, 90-day eligibility, 40-hour carryover cap, and certain construction-worker payout rules), and at least five days of paid bereavement leave after 90 days of employment. The department and its director gain strong enforcement tools, including stop-work orders that require employers to pay scheduled wages during shutdowns and permit civil penalties up to $5,000 per day (adjusted for inflation) and probationary reporting; that creates tangible compliance, payroll, and closure-risk costs for employers and increased protections and pay continuity for employees. Some details about implementation timing and the full text of certain sections are missing from the extracts, so exact employer obligations in specific situations are not fully clear. Transportation network companies and their drivers are especially affected: TNCs must meet per-minute, per-mile, and per-trip minimum payment standards (with higher rates for trips originating in very large cities), remit all tips to drivers, limit deductions to driver-authorized, written purposes, provide detailed trip receipts and regular pay notices, and begin remitting $0.15 per trip to a driver resource center fund starting July 1, 2024. Drivers gain accrual and use rights for earned sick and vacation time (generally 1 hour sick per 40 hours and 2.3 hours vacation per 40 hours, usable after 90 hours or 90 days, paid at the driver’s average hourly compensation excluding tips, carryover limits, and time-for-payment rules within 14 days), plus an appeal and representation process for certain account deactivations administered through a driver resource center with departmental review. The bill raises TNC operating costs and administrative duties, increases drivers’ guaranteed pay and leave benefits, and requires new agreements and reporting; some provisions and precise administrative authorities are incomplete in the available text.