HomeMy WebLinkAboutInitiative Measure No. 23-02 Ordinance CodificationCHAPTER 28
Ini�a�ve Measure 23-02: Concerning Labor Standards for Certain Employees
Sec�ons:
5-28-1: Findings
5-28-2: Intent
5-28-3: Large Employers Shall Pay Minimum Wages Comparable to Those in Nearby Ci�es
5-28-4: Other Covered Employers Shall Have a Mul�year Phase-In Period
5-28-5: Coverage and Employer Classifica�ons
5-28-6: Part-Time Employes Shall Have Fair Access to Addi�onal Hours
5-28-7: Retalia�on Prohibited
5-28-8: Enforcement
5-28-9: See Sec�on 5-5-4 (link to new 5-5-4)
5-28-10: Defini�ons
5-28-11: Other Legal Requirements
5-28-12: Rulemaking
5-28-13: Cons�tu�onal Subject
5-28-14: Codifica�on
5-28-15: Elec�on Date
5-28-16: Severability
5-28-1 Findings:
1. The people of the City of Renton hereby adopt this ci�zen ini�a�ve addressing labor standards for
certain employees, for the purpose of ensuring that, to the extent reasonably prac�cable, people
employed in Renton have good wages and access to sufficient hours of work.
2. The City of Renton is one of the largest job centers in Washington State, with thousands of shoppers
and workers visi�ng daily to par�cipate in the local economy. Renton is home to The Landing shopping
center, the historic Downtown Urban Center, as well as retail and commercial official and warehouse
districts around the Rainier/Grady Way Junc�on. The City is a net importer of jobs, with nearly 60,000
employed workers. Renton has a wide array of both long established and new and evolving business
sectors. Retail businesses, restaurants and bars, auto sales, hospitality, healthcare, and office works are
well represented.
3. The statewide minimum wage of $15.74 is not sufficient to afford rising rents and costs of living in
Renton. According to the Na�onal Low Income Housing Coali�on’s Out of Reach 2022 report, a worker
making Washington’s minimum wage would have to work 72 hours each week (up from 70 hours each
week in 2021) to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at Fair Market Rent.
4. When working families earn insufficient income due to low wages and involuntary under-employment,
they struggle to pay for basic necessi�es like health care, child care, and groceries, and they are more
likely to be evicted and become homeless.
5. Nearby King County ci�es of SeaTac, Seatle, and Tukwila enacted higher minimum wages in 2013,
2014, and 2022 respec�vely, but un�l now Renton has not followed suit.
6. Children growing up in poverty experience insecurity with housing, nutri�on, and health care while
enduring other hardships that prevent their ability to learn in school. Full �me working parents must be
able to reasonably provide for their family to ensure access to the opportuni�es and promise of public
educa�on.
5-28-2 Intent:
It is the intent of the people to establish fair labor standards and protect the rights of workers by: (1)
ensuring the vast majority of employees in the City of Renton receive a minimum wage comparable to
employees in nearby ci�es of Tukwila, SeaTac, and Seatle; (2) requiring covered employers to offer
addi�onal hours of work to qualified part-�me employees before hiring new employees to fill those
hours; and (3) adop�ng enforcement requirements.
5-28-3 Large Employers Shall Pay Minimum Wages Comparable to Those in Nearby Ci�es:
1. Effec�ve July 1, 2024, every large employer shall pay to each employee an hourly wage of not less
than the 2023 new minimum wage rate in the City of Tukwila, established by City of Tukwila Ini�a�ve
Measure No.1, approved by voters in November 2022, adjusted for 2024 by the annual rate of infla�on.
2. On January 1, 2025, and on each January 1 therea�er, the hourly minimum wage shall increase by the
annual rate of infla�on to maintain employee purchasing power.
3. By December 31, 2023, and by October 15 of each year therea�er, the Finance Department shall
establish and publish the applicable hourly minimum wage for the following year using the annual rate
of infla�on.
4. For purposes of this chapter, the annual rate of infla�on means 100 percent of the annual average
growth rate of the bi-monthly Seatle-Tacoma -Bellevue Area Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage
Earners and Clerical Workers, termed CPI-W, for the 12-month period ending in August, provided that
the percentage increase shall not be less than zero.
5. An employer must pay its employees:
a. All �ps and gratui�es; and
b. All service charges as defined under RCW 49.46.160 except those that, pursuant to RCW
49.46.160, are itemized as not being payable to the employee or employees servicing the
customer.
Tips and service charges paid to an employee are in addi�on to, and may not count towards, the
employee’s hourly minimum wage.
5-28-4 Other Covered Employers Shall Have a Mul�year Phase-In Period:
Other covered employers shall phase in the new minimum wage as follows:
1. Effec�ve July 1, 2024, other covered employers shall pay employees not less than the hourly
minimum wage established under Sec�on 3 minus Two Dollars ($2) per hour.
2. Effec�ve July 1, 2025, other covered employers shall pay employees not less than the hourly
minimum wage established under Sec�on 3 minus One Dollar ($1) per hour.
3. Effec�ve July 1, 2026, and therea�er, all covered employers shall pay employees not less than
the hourly minimum wage established under Sec�on 3.
5-28-5 Coverage and Employer Classifica�ons:
1. Covered employers must pay employees at least the minimum wage established by this chapter for
each hour worked within the City.
2. Employer classifica�on for the current calendar year will be calculated based upon the average
number of employees during all weeks in the previous calendar year in which the employer had at least
one employee. For employers that did not have any employees during the previous calendar year,
classifica�on will be based upon the average number of employees during the most recent three months
of the current year. In this determina�on, all employees will be counted, regardless of their loca�on, and
including employees who worked in full-�me employment, part-�me employment, joint employment,
temporary employment, or through the services of a temporary services or staffing agency or similar
en�ty.
3. Employer classifica�on for the calendar year will be calculated based upon gross revenue for the
previous year. For employers that did not have gross revenue during the previous calendar year, annual
gross revenue will be calculated from the gross revenue during the most recent three months of the
current year.
4. For the purposes of employer classifica�on, separate en��es will be considered a single employer if
they form an integrated enterprise or they are under joint control by one of those en��es or a separate
en�ty. The factors to consider in making this assessment include, but are not limited to:
a. Degree of interrela�on between the opera�ons of mul�ple en��es;
b. Degree to which the en��es share common management;
c. Centralized control of labor rela�ons; and
d. Degree of common ownership of financial control over the en��es.
5-28-6 Part-Time Employees Shall have Fair Access to Addi�onal Hours:
1. Before hiring addi�onal employees or subcontractors, including hiring through the use of temporary
services or staffing agencies, covered employers must offer addi�onal hours of work to exis�ng
employees who, in the employer’s good faith and reasonable judgment, have the skills and experience to
perform the work, and shall use a reasonable, transparent, and nondiscriminatory process to distribute
the hours or work among those exis�ng employees.
2. This sec�on shall not be construed to require any employer to offer an employee work hours if the
employer would be required to compensate the employee at �me-and-a-half or other premium rate
under any law or collec�ve bargaining agreement, nor to prohibit any employer from offering such work
hours.
5-28-7 Retalia�on Prohibited:
1. No employer or any other person shall interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the atempt
to exercise, any right protected under this chapter.
2. No employer or any other person shall take any adverse ac�on against any person because the person
has exercised in good faith the rights under this chapter. Such rights include but are not limited to the
right to make inquires about the rights protected under this chapter; the right to inform others about
their rights under this chapter; the right to inform the person’s employer, union, or similar organiza�on,
and/or the person’s legal counsel or any other person about an alleged viola�on of this chapter; the right
to bring a civil ac�on for an alleged viola�on of this chapter; the right to tes�fy in a proceeding under or
related to this chapter; the right to refuse to par�cipate in an ac�vity that would result in a viola�on of
city, state, or federal law; and the right to oppose any policy, prac�ce, or act that is unlawful under this
chapter.
3. For the purposes of this sec�on, an adverse ac�on means denying a job or promo�on, demo�ng,
termina�ng, failing to rehire a�er a seasonal interrup�on of work, threatening, penalizing, retalia�ng,
engaging in unfair immigra�on-related prac�ces, filing a false report with a government agency,
changing an employee’s status to nonemployee, decreasing or declining to provide addi�onal work
hours when they otherwise would have been offered, scheduling an employee for hours outside of their
availability, or otherwise discrimina�ng against any person for any reason prohibited by this chapter.
“Adverse ac�on” for an employee may involve any aspect of employment, including pay, work hours,
responsibili�es, or other material change in the terms and condi�ons of employment.
4. No employer or any other person shall communicate toa person exercising rights protected under this
chapter, directly or indirectly, the willingness to inform a government employee that the person is not
lawfully in the United States, or to report, or to make an implied or express asser�on of a willingness to
report, suspected ci�zenship or immigra�on status of the person or a family member of the person to a
federal, state, or local agency because the person has exercised a right under this chapter.
5. There shall be a rebutable presump�on of unlawful retalia�on if an employer or any other person
takes an adverse ac�on against a person within 90 days of the person’s exercise of any right protected
under this chapter. However, in the case of seasonal work that ended before the close of the 90-day
period, the presump�on also applies if the employer fails to rehire a former employee at the next
opportunity for work in the same posi�on. The employer may rebut the presump�on with clear and
convincing evidence that the adverse ac�on was taken for a permissible purpose.
6. Standard of Proof. Proof of retalia�on under this chapter shall be sufficient upon a showing that an
employer or any other person has taken an adverse ac�on against a person and the person’s exercise of
rights protected in this chapter was a mo�va�ng factor in the adverse ac�on, unless the employer can
prove that the ac�on would have been taken in the absence of such protected ac�vity.
7. The protec�ons afforded under this sec�on shall apply to any person who mistakenly but in good faith
alleges viola�ons of this chapter.
5-28-8 Enforcement:
1. Any person or class of persons that suffers financial injury as a result of a viola�on of this chapter or is
the subject of prohibited retalia�on under this chapter, or any other individual or en�ty ac�ng on their
behalf, may bring a civil ac�on in a court of competent jurisdic�on against the employer or other person
viola�ng this chapter an, upon prevailing, shall be awarded reasonable atorney fees and costs and such
legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to remedy the viola�on including, without limita�on, the
payment of any unpaid wages plus interest due to the person and liquidated damages in an addi�onal
amount of up to twice the unpaid wages; compensatory damages; and a penalty payable to any
aggrieved party of up to $5,000 if the aggrieved party was subject to prohibited retalia�on. For the
purposes of this sec�on, an aggrieved party means an employee or other person who suffers tangible or
intangible hard due to an employer or other person’s viola�on of this chapter. Interest shall accrue from
the date the unpaid wages were first due at the higher of twelve percent per annum or the maximum
rate permited under RCW 19.52.020.
2. For purposes of determining membership within a class of person en�tled to bring an ac�on under
this sec�on, two or more employees are similarly situated if they:
a. Are or were employed by the same employer or employers, whether concurrently or otherwise,
at some point during the applicable statue to limita�ons period;
b. Allege one or more viola�ons that raise similar ques�ons as to liability; and
c. Seek similar forms of relief.
d. Employees shall not be considered dissimilar solely because their claims seek damages that
differ in amount, or their job �tles or other means of classifying employees differ in ways that
are unrelated to their claims.
3. Each covered employer shall retain records as required by RCW 49.46.070, as well as such informa�on
as the City may require to confirm compliance with this chapter. If an employer fails to retain such
records, there shall be a presump�on, rebutable by clear and convincing evidence, that the employer
violated this chapter for the periods for each employee for whom records were not retained.
4. Employers shall permit authorized City representa�ve access to work sites and relevant records for the
purpose of monitoring compliance with the chapter and inves�ga�ng complaints of noncompliance,
including produc�on for inspec�on and copying of employment records. The City may designate
representa�ves, including city contractors and representa�ves of unions or worker advocacy
organiza�ons, to access the worksite and relevant records.
5. Complaints that any provision of this chapter has been violated may also be presented to the City
Atorney, who is herby authorized to inves�gate and, if they deem appropriate, ini�ate legal or other
ac�on to remedy any viola�on of this chapter.
6. The City has the authority to issue administra�ve cita�ons and to order injunc�ve relief including
reinstatement, res�tu�on, payment of back wages, or other forms of relief.
7. The City may, in the exercise of its authority and performance of its func�ons and services, agree by
contract or otherwise par�cipate jointly or in coopera�on with Washington State, King County, or any
other city, town, or other incorporated place, or subdivision thereof, or engage outside counsel, to
enforce this chapter.
8. The remedies and penal�es provided under this chapter are cumula�ve and are not intended to be
exclusive of any other available remedies or penal�es, including exis�ng remedies for enforcement of
Renton Municipal Code chapters.
9. The statute of limita�ons for any enforcement ac�on shall be five (5) years.
5-28-9: [Reserved – Sec�on 9 of Ini�a�ve Measure 23-02 codified at 5-5-4 e 5-5-4 (link to 5-5-4)]
5-28-10 Defini�ons:
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
“City” means the City of Renton.
“Covered employer” means an employer that either (1) employes at least 15 employees regardless of
where those employees are employed, or (2) has annual gross revenue over $2 million.
“Effec�ve date” is the effec�ve date of this ordinance1.
“Employee” is defined as set forth in RCW 49.46.010. An employer bears the burden of proof that the
individual is, as a mater of economic reality, in business for oneself rather than dependent upon the
alleged employer.
“Employer” is defined as set forth in RCW 49.46.010.
“Employer classifica�on” includes the determina�on of whether an employer is covered employer and
whether a covered employer is a large employer.
“Franchise” means an agreement, express or implied, oral or writen by which:
1. A person is granted the right to engage in the business of offering, selling, or distribu�ng goods
or services under a marke�ng plan prescribed or suggested in substan�al part by the grantor or
its affiliate;
2. The opera�on of the business is substan�ally associated with a trademark, service mark, trade
name, adver�sing, or other commercial symbol; designa�ng, owned by, or licensed by the
grantor or affiliate; and
3. The person pay, agrees to pay, or is required to pay, directly or indirectly, a franchise fee. The
term, “franchise fee” is meant to be construed broadly to include an instance in which the
grantor or its affiliate derives income or profit from a person who enters into a franchise
agreement with the grantor.
“Hour worked within the City” is to be interpreted according to its ordinary meaning, including all hours
worked within the geographic boundaries of the City, excluding �me spent in the City for the purpose of
traveling through the City from a point of origin outside the City to a des�na�on outside the City, with no
employment-related or commercial stops in the City except for refueling or the employee’s personal
meals or errands.
“Large Employer” means all employers that employ more than 500 employees, regardless of where
those employees are employes, and all franchisees associated with a franchisor or a network of
franchises with franchisees that employ more than 500 employees in aggregate.
“Other covered employer” means a covered employer that does not qualify as a large employer.
“Service charge” is defined as set forth in RCW 49.46.160(2)(c).
“Tips” means a verifiable sum to be presented by a customer as a gi� or gratuity in recogni�on of some
service performed for the customer by the employee receiving the �p.
“Wage” is defined as set forth in RCW 49.46.010.
5-28-11 Other Legal Requirements:
This ordinance1 shall not be construed to preempt, limit, or otherwise affect the applicability of any
other law, regula�on, requirement, or standard that provides for greater wages or compensa�on; and
nothing in this ordinance1 shall be interpreted or applied so as to create any power or duty in conflict
with federal or state law.
5-28-12 Rulemaking:
Within 180 days a�er the effec�ve date, the City shall adopt rules and procedure to implement and
ensure compliance with this chapter, which shall require employers to maintain adequate records and to
annually cer�fy compliance with this chapter. The City shall seek feedback from worker organiza�ons
and covered employers before finalizing the rules and procedures.
5-28-13 Cons�tu�onal Subject:
For cons�tu�onal purposes, this measure’s subject “concerns labor standards for certain employers.” See
Filo Foods, LLC v City of SeaTac, 183 Wash. 2d 770, 783, 357 P.3d 1040, 1047 (2015) (upholding this
statement of subject for an ini�a�ve that set a minimum wage and addressed employees’ access to
hours).
5-28-14 Codifica�on:
All sec�ons of this ordinance1 except sec�on 9 shall be codified in a new chapter of the Renton
Municipal Code.
5-28-15 Elec�on date:
In the event that the elec�on on this measure takes place later than November 7, 2023, the Finance
Department must establish and publish the ini�al minimum wage within 30 days of the effec�ve date.
5-28-16 Severability:
The provisions of this ordinance1 are declared to be separate and severable. If any clause, sentence,
paragraph, subdivision, sec�on, subsec�on, or por�on of this ordinance1, or the applica�on thereof to
any employer, employee, or circumstance, is held to be invalid, it shall not affect the validity of the
remainder of this ordinance1, or the validity of its applica�on to other persons or circumstances.
(Ini�a�ve Measure 23-02, Adopted 2024 and Cer�fied by King County Elec�ons on February 23, 2024)
(1 “this ordinance” references Ini�a�ve Measure 23-02, as approved by voters and cer�fied by King
County Elec�ons on February 23, 2024)
5-5-4 Viola�ons of RMC 5-28:
1. The Finance Director may deny, suspend, or revoke any license under this chapter for viola�on of this
ordinance1.
2. The Finance Director must deny, suspend, or revoke any license under this chapter for repeated
inten�onal viola�ons of this ordinance1.
3. Any ac�on by the Finance Director under this sec�on shall be subject to the procedures and
requirements of RMC subsec�on 5-5-3.E, as well as other due process rights that a court may require.
(See RMC 5-28 for the rest of the text for this ordinance1.)
(Ini�a�ve Measure 23-02, Adopted 2024 and Cer�fied by King County Elec�ons on February 23, 2024)
(1 “this ordinance” references Ini�a�ve Measure 23-02, as approved by voters and cer�fied by King
County Elec�ons on February 23, 2024)