More than two dozen new laws take effect Jan. 1 in Washington, including an increase in the state’s minimum wage, a 10-day waiting period and safety training requirement for firearm purchases, and rules regarding employment of persons using cannabis or marijuana outside the workplace.
The new statutes are among scores of bills approved by state legislators earlier this year and signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee. Most of the measures have already been enacted this year and less than a handful are on hold until 2025.
Here’s a summary of those on tap for 2024:
MINIMUM WAGE: As of Jan. 1, Washington state will have the nation’s highest minimum wage when the current rate of $15.74 jumps by 3.4% to $16.28 per hour. That’s more than double the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which has remained unchanged since July 2009.
The state’s new rate will be even higher in the cities of Seattle ($18.69) and SeaTac ($19.06), according to the Washington Department of Labor & Industries. Most agriculture and non-ag jobs qualify for minimum wage. A lower rate is allowed for working minors ages 14-15, who must receive at least 85% of minimum wage, and certain on-the-job, student, disabled, and apprentice workers.
Annual adjustments are based on the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers as a result of Initiative 1433 approved by Washington voters in 2016.
FIREARM PURCHASE WAITING PERIOD: With the Legislature’s passage of House Bill 1143, licensed dealers may not transfer any firearm until completion of federal and state background checks of the purchaser’s eligibility to possess a firearm and a waiting period of 10 business days from when the dealer requested the background check.
The gun buyer or recipient must also provide proof of completing a recognized firearms safety training program within the last five years. The program must include safety training for semiautomatic rifles and instruction on state laws regarding use of deadly force for self-defense and techniques on avoiding criminal attacks and management of violent confrontations. Law enforcement officers and trained military personnel may be exempted.
EMPLOYER CANNABIS TESTING: Under federal and state laws, cannabis remains a controlled substance subject to criminal penalties even though Washington has allowed medicinal use for qualifying patients since 1998 and legal recreational use by adults since 2012.
Those contradictions are also compounded by state and federal laws which allow employers, contractors, and grant recipients in Washington to establish drug-free workplace policies, including drug and alcohol testing.
With Senate Bill 5123, employers are now prohibited from discriminating against a prospective employee based on that person’s use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace. Nor can employers require drug screening tests which identify “non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites” in a person.
