Category: Legal Compliance
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Washington’s 2027 Paid Leave Premium Update
Alongside the minimum wage, the other year-end number Washington employers need is the Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) premium rate. The Employment Security Department (ESD) resets it annually, and the 2027 rate will be announced later this fall. How the premium is set PFML is funded by a premium assessed on employee wages up…
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Your Bonus Clawback Is Now a Noncompete
The most overlooked part of Washington’s new noncompete ban is that it does not only target clauses labeled “noncompete.” It reaches a whole category of compensation provisions that most employers never think of as noncompetes at all—forfeiture clauses, bonus clawbacks, and “stay-or-pay” arrangements. The expanded definition Under the enacted law amending chapter 49.62 RCW, a…
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Legal Update: Washington Commercial Electronic Mail Act
Washington has amended its Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA) for the first time since the statute was enacted in 1998. The changes—passed as Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2274 and now in effect—add a knowledge requirement for misleading subject-line claims and cut one category of statutory damages from $500 to $100. They apply to lawsuits filed…
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Foreign Money Judgments in Washington Still Need a Washington Hook
In Alterna Aircraft V B Ltd. v. SpiceJet Ltd., the Washington Supreme Court held that a creditor seeking recognition of a foreign-country money judgment must identify Washington property if there is no general or specific jurisdiction over the debtor here. What Happened Washington has adopted the Uniform Foreign-Country Money Judgments Recognition Act, which allows certain…
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What Washington’s Montes Decision Means for False-Discount Pricing Claims
The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a false “sale” price alone does not constitute “business or property” injury under the state’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA) if the item is worth what the consumer paid. Key takeaway: The decision likely narrows some Washington false-discount cases, but it is not a green light for careless pricing. Businesses…