Washington Labor and Employment Blog
The latest case law and legal developments in Washington labor & employment law.
By Jim Cline
A
recent decision by the Washington State Supreme Court appears to be fair warning to elected city officials who mismanage personnel matters and violate employee rights. In a recent decision, the Washington State Supreme Court approved recall charges against the City of Pacific Mayor on multiple grounds, including poor personnel management practices, employment retaliation, and violating union contracts.
By Therese Norton
It is an unfair labor practice for an employer to say that employees could avoid a salary reduction if they were not represented by a union. PERC Examiner Claire Nickleberry recently found that Skagit Valley College interfered with employee collective bargaining rights by making such comments because they had a chilling effect on employees. Skagit Valley College, Decision 11536-A (PSRA, 2013).
By Therese Norton
The law requires employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for individuals with disabilities to perform their jobs. Identifying and implementing those accommodations can be tricky sometimes as it requires an individualized assessment of the nature of the disability and the required job duties. Union representatives may be called upon to assist in this process.
By Anthony Rice
In City of Mukilteo, Arbitrator Steve Irvin ruled that the city did not violate its collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the firefighters’ union when it assigned mandatory overtime to cover a public education event. The arbitrator found that, under the CBA, the city has the contractual right to assign overtime to meet its operational needs. Moreover, the city has a broad spectrum of possibilities for overtime use—such as public education.
