HomeMy WebLinkAbout1. Certified Copy of RES 4516CITY OF RENTON, WASHINGTON
RESOLUTION NO. 4516
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF RENTON, WASHINGTON, CALLING FOR A SPECIAL
ELECTION TO BE HELD FEBRUARY 13, 2024 TO PLACE BEFORE THE QUALIFIED
ELECTORS OF THE CITY THE PROPOSITION OF WHETHER AN ORDINANCE
CONCERNING LABOR STANDARDS FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYERS SHOULD BE
ADOPTED.
WHEREAS, a citizen initiative petition assigned Initiative Petition No. 23-02 requests that
the City Council adopt an ordinance concerning labor standards for certain employers has been
submitted to the City; and
WHEREAS, the King County Department of Elections verified the number and sufficiency
of signatures on the petition, and the City Clerk issued a Certificate of Sufficiency dated
November 21, 2023; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has decided to not adopt the proposed ordinance as is and
instead defers the proposal to the voters; and
WHEREAS, the City solicited volunteers to serve on pro and con committees to make
recommendations to the voters as to whether to pass the ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the City Attorney prepared a ballot title and ballot explanatory statement as
required by applicable law.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF RENTON, WASHINGTON, DO
RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION I. It is necessary to call a special election to be held in the City of Renton on
February 13, 2024 for the voters to decide the citizen initiative proposition of whether an
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RESOLUTION NO. 4516
ordinance entitled "An Ordinance Concerning Labor Standards for Certain Employees," attached
hereto as Exhibit A, should be enacted into law.
SECTION II. A special election should be held on February 13, 2024, to place before the
qualified electors of the city the following proposition:
Ballot Title:
City of Renton Citizen Initiative Measure No. 23-02 would enact an
ordinance creating labor standards for Renton employers.
The proposed ordinance requires covered employers to pay a minimum
wage based on that established by the City of Tukwila, offer additional hours to
existing part-time employees before hiring new employees or subcontracted
services, not retaliate against employees exercising rights created by the
ordinance, and comply with administrative requirements. The proposed
ordinance creates remedies and penalties for violations. If enacted, the ordinance
could not be amended or repealed without voter approval.
Should this Ordinance be enacted into law?
YES r,
NO i_!
SECTION III. The City Clerk or designee is authorized and directed to file a copy of this
resolution with the King County Department of Elections no later than 4:30 p.m. on December
15, 2023.
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RESOLUTION NO. 4516
SECTION IV. The City Council appoints the following individuals to serve on pro and con
committees that will prepare arguments advocating for approval or rejection of the proposed
ordinance:
COMMITTEE IN FAVOR
1. Neil Sheesley
2. Corey Thompson
3. Guillermo Zazueta
COMMITTEE IN OPPOSITION
1. Diane Dobson
2. Efrem Fesaha
3. Ramandeep Mann
SECTION V. The following Explanatory Statement of Initiative Measure 23-02 is approved
and adopted for publishing in the King County Voters Pamphlet:
This measure would adopt an ordinance that requires covered employers
to (1) pay a minimum wage for all hours worked within Renton, and (2) distribute
additional hours to its part-time workers prior to hiring new employees,
contractors, or temporary workers if its existing part-time workers have the skills
and experience to perform the work.
Covered employers include those who (1) employ at least 15 employees
worldwide, or (2) have annual gross revenue over $2 million. The minimum wage
starts in July 2024 at $20.29 for large employers and $18.29 for smaller covered
employers. The lower wage would be phased to equal that of large employers in
two years, and the wage would be adjusted for inflation annually.
All employers, including those not otherwise covered, would be: (1)
required to document and certify compliance, and (2) prohibited from retaliating
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RESOLUTION NO. 4516
against any person who exercises rights created by the ordinance. Protected rights
include making good faith allegations of violations, inquiring or informing others
about the law's protections, or participating in investigations or claims, even when
no violation exists. Any adverse action taken against a person within 90 days of
their exercising rights under the ordinance is legally presumed to be prohibited
retaliation.
Violations would be primarily enforced by through civil lawsuits Remedies
include payment of: attorneys' fees, unpaid wages, interest, liquidated damages
equal to twice the unpaid wages, compensatory damages, and a $5000 penalty for
retaliation. Intentional violations could subject employers to revocation of their
business license.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL the 4th day of December, 2023.
APPROVED BY THE MAYOR this 4th day of December, 2023.
Approved as to form:
Shane Moloney, City Attorney
RES- ESD:1959:11/30/23
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RESOLUTION NO. 4516
EXHIBIT A
AN ORDINANCE concerning labor standards for certain employees.
Section 1. Findings.
1. The people of the City of Renton hereby adopt this citizen initiative addressing labor
standards for certain employees, for the purpose of ensuring that, to the extent reasonably
practicable, 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 visiting daily to participate in the local economy. Renton is home to The
Landing shopping center, the historic Downtown Urban Center, as well as retail and commercial
office and warehouse districts around the Rainier/Grady Way Junction. 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 workers 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 National Low Income Housing Coalition'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 necessities like health care, child care, and
groceries, and they are more likely to be evicted and become homeless.
5. Nearby King County cities of SeaTac, Seattle, and Tukwila enacted higher minimum wages in
2013, 2014, and 2022 respectively, but until now Renton has not followed suit.
6. Children growing up in poverty experience insecurity with housing, nutrition, and health care
while enduring other hardships that prevent their ability to learn in school. Full time working
parents must be able to reasonably provide for their family to ensure access to the
opportunities and promise of public education.
Section 2. Intent.
It is the intent of the people to establish fair labor standards and protect the rights of workers
by: (1) ensuring that the vast majority of employees in the City of Renton receive a minimum
wage comparable to employees in the nearby cities of Tukwila, SeaTac, and Seattle; (2)
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RESOLUTION NO. 4516
requiring covered employers to offer additional hours of work to qualified part-time employees
before hiring new employees to fill those hours; and (3) adopting enforcement requirements.
Section 3. Large Employers Shall Pay Minimum Wages Comparable to Those in Nearby Cities.
1. Effective 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 Initiative Measure No. 1, approved by voters in November 2022, adjusted for 2024 by
the annual rate of inflation.
2. On January 1, 2025, and on each January 1 thereafter, the hourly minimum wage shall
increase by the annual rate of inflation to maintain employee purchasing power.
3, By December 31, 2023, and by October 15 of each year thereafter, the Finance Department
shall establish and publish the applicable hourly minimum wage for the following year using the
annual rate of inflation.
4. For purposes of this chapter, the annual rate of inflation means 100 percent of the annual
average growth rate of the bi-monthly Seattle -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 to its employees:
a. All tips and gratuities; 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 addition to, and may not count towards,
the employee's hourly minimum wage.
Section 4. Other Covered Employers Shall Have a Multiyear Phase -In Period.
Other covered employers shall phase in the new minimum wage, as follows:
1. Effective July 1, 2024, other covered employers shall pay employees not less than the hourly
minimum wage established under Section 3 minus Two Dollars ($2) per hour.
2. Effective July 1, 2025, other covered employers shall pay employees not less than the hourly
minimum wage established under Section 3 minus One Dollar ($1) per hour.
3. Effective July 1, 2026, and thereafter, all covered employers shall pay employees not less
than the hourly minimum wage established under Section 3.
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Section 5. Coverage and Employer Classifications.
1. Covered employers must pay employees at least the minimum wage established by this
chapter for each hour worked within the City.
2. Employer classification 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, classification will be based upon the average number of employees
during the most recent three months of the current year. In this determination, all employees
will be counted, regardless of their location, and including employees who worked in full-time
employment, part-time employment, joint employment, temporary employment, or through
the services of a temporary services or staffing agency or similar entity.
3. Employer classification for the current calendar year will be calculated based upon the 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 classification, separate entities will be considered a single
employer if they form an integrated enterprise or they are under joint control by one of those
entities or a separate entity. The factors to consider in making this assessment include, but are
not limited to:
a. Degree of interrelation between the operations of multiple entities;
b. Degree to which the entities share common management;
c. Centralized control of labor relations; and
d. Degree of common ownership or financial control over the entities.
Section 6. Part -Time Employees Shall Have Fair Access to Additional Hours.
1. Before hiring additional employees or subcontractors, including hiring through the use of
temporary services or staffing agencies, covered employers must offer additional hours of work
to existing 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 of work among those existing employees.
2. This section 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 time -and -a -half or other
premium rate under any law or collective bargaining agreement, nor to prohibit any employer
from offering such work hours.
RESOLUTION NO. 4516
Section 7. Retaliation Prohibited.
1. No employer or any other person shall interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the
attempt to exercise, any right protected under this chapter.
2. No employer or any other person shall take any adverse action 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 inquiries 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 organization, and/or the person's legal counsel or any other person
about an alleged violation of this chapter; the right to bring a civil action for an alleged violation
of this chapter; the right to testify in a proceeding under or related to this chapter; the right to
refuse to participate in an activity that would result in a violation of city, state, or federal law, -
and the right to oppose any policy, practice, or act that is unlawful under this chapter.
3. For the purposes of this section, an adverse action means denying a job or promotion,
demoting, terminating, failing to rehire after a seasonal interruption of work, threatening,
penalizing, retaliating, engaging in unfair immigration -related practices, filing a false report with
a government agency, changing an emp►oyee's status to nonemployee, decreasing or declining
to provide additional work hours when they otherwise would have been offered, scheduling an
employee for hours outside of their availability, or otherwise discriminating against any person
for any reason prohibited by this chapter. "Adverse action" for an employee may involve any
aspect of employment, including pay, work hours, responsibilities, or other material change in
the terms and conditions of employment.
4. No employer or any other person shall communicate to a 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
assertion of a willingness to report, suspected citizenship or immigration 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 rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if an employer or any other
person takes an adverse action against a person within 90 days of the person's exercise of any
right protected in this chapter. However, in the case of seasonal work that ended before the
close of the 90-day period, the presumption also applies if the employer fails to rehire a former
employee at the next opportunity for work in the same position. The employer may rebut the
presumption with clear and convincing evidence that the adverse action was taken for a
permissible purpose.
6. Standard of Proof. Proof of retaliation under this chapter shall be sufficient upon a showing
that an employer or any other person has taken an adverse action against a person and the
person's exercise of rights protected in this chapter was a motivating factor in the adverse
action, unless the employer can prove that the action would have been taken in the absence of
such protected activity.
RESOLUTION NO. 4516
7. The protections afforded under this section shall apply to any person who mistakenly but in
good faith alleges violations of this chapter.
Section 8. Enforcement.
1. Any person or class of persons that suffers financial injury as a result of a violation of this
chapter or is the subject of prohibited retaliation under this chapter, or any other individual or
entity acting on their behalf, may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction against
the employer or other person violating this chapter and, upon prevailing, shall be awarded
reasonable attorney fees and costs and such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate to
remedy the violation including, without limitation, the payment of any unpaid wages plus
interest due to the person and liquidated damages in an additional 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 retaliation. For the purposes of this
section, an aggrieved party means an employee or other person who suffers tangible or
intangible harm due to an employer or other person's violation 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 permitted under RCW 19.52.020.
2. For purposes of determining membership within a class of persons entitled to bring an action
under this section, 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 statute of limitations period;
b. Allege one or more violations that raise similar questions 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 titles 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
information as the City may require to confirm compliance with this chapter. If an employer
fails to retain such records, there shall be a presumption, rebuttable by clear and convincing
evidence, that the employer violated this chapter for the periods and for each employee for
whom records were not retained.
4. Employers shall permit authorized City representatives access to work sites and relevant
records for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the chapter and investigating
complaints of noncompliance, including production for inspection and copying of employment
records. The City may designate representatives, including city contractors and representatives
of unions or worker advocacy organizations, to access the worksite and relevant records.
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5. Complaints that any provision of this chapter has been violated may also be presented to the
City Attorney, who is hereby authorized to investigate and, if they deem appropriate, initiate
legal or other action to remedy any violation of this chapter.
6. The City has the authority to issue administrative citations and to order injunctive relief
including reinstatement, restitution, payment of back wages, or other forms of relief.
7. The City may, in the exercise of its authority and performance of its functions and services,
agree by contract or otherwise to participate jointly or in cooperation with Washington State,
King County, or any city, town, or other incorporated place, or subdivision thereof, or engage
outside counsel, to enforce this chapter.
8. The remedies and penalties provided under this chapter are cumulative and are not intended
to be exclusive of any other available remedies or penalties, including existing remedies for
enforcement of Renton Municipal Code chapters.
9. The statute of limitations for any enforcement action shall be five (5) years.
Section 9. A new section is added to Renton Municipal Code (RMC) Section 5-5-4 as follows:
1. The Finance Director may deny, suspend, or revoke any license under this chapter for
violation of this ordinance.
2. The Finance Director must deny, suspend, or revoke any license under this chapter for
repeated intentional violations of this ordinance.
3. Any action by the Finance Director under this section shall be subject to the procedures and
requirements of RMC subsection 5-5-3.E, as well as other due process rights that a court may
require.
Section 10. Definitions.
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) employs at least 15 employees
regardless of where those employees are employed, or (2) has annual gross revenue over $2
million.
"Effective date" is the effective date of this ordinance.
"Employee" is defined as set forth in RCW 49.46.010. An employer bears the burden of proof
that the individual is, as a matter of economic reality, in business for oneself rather than
dependent upon the alleged employer.
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"Employer" is defined as set forth in RCW 49.46.010.
"Employer classification" includes the determination of whether an employer is a covered
employer and whether a covered employer is a large employer.
"Franchise" means an agreement, express or implied, oral or written by which:
1. A person is granted the right to engage in the business of offering, selling, or distributing
goods or services under a marketing plan prescribed or suggested in substantial part by the
grantor or its affiliate;
2. The operation of the business is substantially associated with a trademark, service mark,
trade name, advertising, or other commercial symbol; designating, owned by, or licensed by the
grantor or its affiliate, and
3. The person pays, 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 any 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 time spent in the City
solely for the purpose of traveling through the City from a point of origin outside the City to a
destination 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 employed, 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 gift or gratuity in recognition
of some service performed for the customer by the employee receiving the tip.
"Wage" is defined as set forth in RCW 49.46.010.
Section 11. Other legal Requirements.
This ordinance shall not be construed to preempt, limit, or otherwise affect the applicability of
any other law, regulation, requirement, policy, or standard that provides for greater wages or
compensation; and nothing in this ordinance shall be interpreted or applied so as to create any
power or duty in conflict with federal or state law.
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Section 12. Rulemaking.
Within 180 days after the effective date, the City shall adopt rules and procedures to
implement and ensure compliance with this chapter, which shall require employers to maintain
adequate records and to annually certify compliance with this chapter. The City shall seek
feedback from worker organizations and covered employers before finalizing the rules and
procedures.
Section 13. Constitutional Subject.
For constitutional 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 initiative that set a minimum wage and
addressed employees' access to hours).
Section 14. Codification.
All sections of this ordinance except section 9 shall be codified in a new chapter of the Renton
Municipal Code.
Section 1S. Election date.
In the event that the election on this measure takes place later than November 7, 2023, the
Finance Department must establish and publish the initial minimum wage within 30 days of the
effective date.
Section 16. Severability.
The provisions of this ordinance are declared to be separate and severable. If any clause,
sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, subsection, or portion of this ordinance, or the
application thereof to any employer, employee, or circumstance, is held to be invalid, it shall
not affect the validity of the remainder of this ordinance, or the validity of its application to
other persons or circumstances.
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