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DECEMBER 23, 2019

EVENTS

Seattle District Breakfast: Working with the Port of Seattle
Registration is now open for our first breakfast meeting of 2020, coming up on Jan. 21. We have the honor of hearing from Jeffery Brown, Director of Aviation Facilities and Capital Programs who is responsible for leading the long-term capital development program at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and Nora Huey, Director of Central Procurement. Brown will give AGC members a first-hand report on upcoming airport expansion projects, and Huey will follow up with an update on recent changes in Port policies, and what contractors should know about working at the Port of Seattle. Register today!

2020 AGC-WSDOT Annual Meeting
AGC members, please join us for the 2020 AGC-WSDOT Annual Meeting on Jan. 9, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
WSDOT employees: please register with WSDOT’s Andrea Bruce (tel. 360.705.7822). We'll again be at the Emerald Queen Ballroom and Conference Center in Fife. Please note that registration closes on December 31, 2019.
Click here for more information and to register.

WSDOT training in partnering, conflict resolution
WSDOT, in conjunction with AGC of Washington and RHA, LLC, is offering partnering and conflict-resolution training for WSDOT staff and contractor personnel involved in the administration of construction contracts. Sessions are now scheduled in Wenatchee (Jan. 28) and Kent (Jan. 29 and Jan. 30). The concept of partnering on construction projects has been around since the early 1990s and embraces the principles of trust and open communications; resolving issues and problems promptly and at the lowest possible level; developing solutions that are agreeable and meet the needs of everyone involved (win-win approach) and more. Click here to see the event flyer. Seating is limited, so register today!

Join us for the 2020 Annual Convention
It'll be another memorable event for AGC members, with insightful and thought-provoking speakers, unparalleled networking, the almost-world-famous Dessert Dash and lots more -- with an event-wide focus on workforce development. Join us on Jan. 24 at the Bellevue Hyatt, with special AGC block rates available while they last. Click here for more event information and registration.
ADVOCACY
New overtime rules begin on Jan. 1
The Department of Labor & Industries announced updates to Washington’s overtime rules. These rules will go into effect on July 1, 2020 with phased-in implementation through 2028. However, Washington employers will be required to follow new federal overtime rule which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The recently updated federal threshold, at $684 a week ($35,568 a year), will be slightly higher than Washington’s until 2021. The new fed rule kicks in on Jan. 1. Then, beginning July 1, the state's minimum-salary threshold will increase to $675 a week ($35,100 a year) for all businesses, which is 1.25 times the state’s minimum wage. The threshold will increase incrementally until 2028, when it is expected to reach approximately $1,603 a week (about $83,356 a year) for an overtime exempt worker, 2.5 times the minimum wage. Read more.
As of Jan. 1, paid family/medical-leave benefits can be taken
Starting in January, nearly all workers in Washington, including part- and full-time, may be eligible to take up to 12 weeks to care for themselves or a family member through a serious illness or injury, to bond with a new child coming into the home and for certain service-connected events for military families. In some circumstances, between 16 and 18 weeks may be available. Payroll taxes to fund the new benefit began Jan. 1, 2019.
To be eligible for the new benefits, an employee must work 820 hours in Washington, approximately 16 hours per week, over the course of about a year and experience a qualifying event. Hours are accumulated from all employers for which an employee works, including multiple employers at once and seasonal or temporary work. For an application to be approved in the event of a serious health condition, medical certification by a healthcare provider will be required. Read more...
INDUSTRY NEWS
Supreme Court expands jobsite liability for GCs
Tina Scott/Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP
On November 21, the Washington State Supreme Court held that general contractors may be on the hook for the injuries of the workers on their jobsites (Vargas v. Inland Washington, LLC). And not just on the hook to provide a safe jobsite for all, but for the injuries of its subcontractors' workers. And not on the hook in one way, but potentially in four ways. The plaintiff, Mr. Vargas, was an employee of a subcontractor who was struck in the head by a whipping concrete hose as he was pouring the concrete walls for a parking garage. The hose knocked off his hard hat, leaving him unconscious and ultimately with a traumatic brain injury. The Vargas family sued the general contractor, the concrete supplier, and the concrete pumper subcontractor for negligence. Read more...
AGC's Seattle District Report is a publication of the
Associated General Contractors of Washington
.


Ideas? Comments? Questions?
Please contact Sonja Forster, Seattle District Manager, at 206.284.0061.

 
 
Click here for a complete listing of upcoming class offerings from AGC's Education Foundation
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