CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2061
Chapter 354, Laws of 2024
68th Legislature
2024 Regular Session
HEALTH CARE FACILITY OVERTIME—EMPLOYEE DEFINITION
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 1, 2025
Passed by the House February 8, 2024 CERTIFICATE
Yeas 97 Nays 0
I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives of the
LAURIE JINKINS State of Washington, do hereby
Speaker of the House of certify that the attached is
Representatives SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2061 as
passed by the House of
Representatives and the Senate on
the dates hereon set forth.
Passed by the Senate February 27,
2024
Yeas 49 Nays 0 BERNARD DEAN
Chief Clerk
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
Approved March 28, 2024 2:50 PM FILED
March 29, 2024
Secretary of State
JAY INSLEE State of Washington
Governor of the State of Washington
 SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2061
Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2024 Regular Session
By House Labor & Workplace Standards (originally sponsored by
Representatives Bronoske, Ramel, Berry, Reed, Fosse, Lekanoff,
Pollet, and Kloba)
READ FIRST TIME 01/31/24.
1 AN ACT Relating to defining an employee of a health care facility
2 for purposes of mandatory overtime provisions; amending RCW
3 49.28.130; creating a new section; providing an effective date; and
4 providing an expiration date.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
6 Sec. 1. RCW 49.28.130 and 2019 c 296 s 2 are each amended to
7 read as follows:
8 The definitions in this section apply throughout this section and
9 RCW 49.28.140 and 49.28.150 unless the context clearly requires
10 otherwise.
11 (1)(a) "Employee" means a person who:
12 (i) Is employed by a health care facility;
13 (ii) Is involved in direct patient care activities or clinical
14 services; and
15 (iii) Receives an hourly wage or is covered by a collective
16 bargaining agreement((; and
17 (iv) Is either:
18 (A) A licensed practical nurse or registered nurse licensed under
19 chapter 18.79 RCW; or
20 (B) Beginning July 1, 2020, a surgical technologist registered
21 under chapter 18.215 RCW, a diagnostic radiologic technologist or
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 1 cardiovascular invasive specialist certified under chapter 18.84 RCW,
2 a respiratory care practitioner licensed under chapter 18.89 RCW, or
3 a nursing assistant-certified as defined in RCW 18.88A.020)).
4 (b) "Employee" does not mean a person who:
5 (i) Is employed by a health care facility as defined in
6 subsection (3)(a)(v) of this section; and
7 (ii) Is a surgical technologist registered under chapter 18.215
8 RCW, a diagnostic radiologic technologist or cardiovascular invasive
9 specialist certified under chapter 18.84 RCW, a respiratory care
10 practitioner licensed under chapter 18.89 RCW, or a certified nursing
11 assistant as defined in RCW 18.88A.020.
12 (2) "Employer" means an individual, partnership, association,
13 corporation, the state, a political subdivision of the state, or
14 person or group of persons, acting directly or indirectly in the
15 interest of a health care facility.
16 (3)(a) "Health care facility" means the following facilities, or
17 any part of the facility, including such facilities if owned and
18 operated by a political subdivision or instrumentality of the state,
19 that operate on a twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week
20 basis:
21 (i) Hospices licensed under chapter 70.127 RCW;
22 (ii) Hospitals licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW, except that
23 until July 1, 2021, the provisions of section 3, chapter 296, Laws of
24 2019 do not apply to:
25 (A) Hospitals certified as critical access hospitals under 42
26 U.S.C. Sec. 1395i-4;
27 (B) Hospitals with fewer than twenty-five acute care beds in
28 operation; and
29 (C) Hospitals certified by the centers for medicare and medicaid
30 services as sole community hospitals as of January 1, 2013, that:
31 Have had less than one hundred fifty acute care licensed beds in
32 fiscal year 2011; have a level III adult trauma service designation
33 from the department of health as of January 1, 2014; and are owned
34 and operated by the state or a political subdivision;
35 (iii) Rural health care facilities as defined in RCW 70.175.020;
36 (iv) Psychiatric hospitals licensed under chapter 71.12 RCW; or
37 (v) Facilities owned and operated by the department of
38 corrections or by a governing unit as defined in RCW 70.48.020 in a
39 correctional institution as defined in RCW 9.94.049 that provide
40 health care services.
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 1 (b) If a nursing home regulated under chapter 18.51 RCW or a home
2 health agency regulated under chapter 70.127 RCW is operating under
3 the license of a health care facility, the nursing home or home
4 health agency is considered part of the health care facility for the
5 purposes of this subsection.
6 (4) "Overtime" means the hours worked in excess of an agreed
7 upon, predetermined, regularly scheduled shift within a ((twenty-four
8 hour)) 24-hour period not to exceed ((twelve)) 12 hours in a
9 ((twenty-four hour)) 24-hour period or ((eighty)) 80 hours in a
10 consecutive ((fourteen-day)) 14-day period.
11 (5) "On-call time" means time spent by an employee who is not
12 working on the premises of the place of employment but who is
13 compensated for availability or who, as a condition of employment,
14 has agreed to be available to return to the premises of the place of
15 employment on short notice if the need arises.
16 (6) "Reasonable efforts" means that the employer, to the extent
17 reasonably possible, does all of the following but is unable to
18 obtain staffing coverage:
19 (a) Seeks individuals to volunteer to work extra time from all
20 available qualified staff who are working;
21 (b) Contacts qualified employees who have made themselves
22 available to work extra time;
23 (c) Seeks the use of per diem staff; and
24 (d) Seeks personnel from a contracted temporary agency when such
25 staffing is permitted by law or an applicable collective bargaining
26 agreement, and when the employer regularly uses a contracted
27 temporary agency.
28 (7) "Unforeseeable emergent circumstance" means (a) any
29 unforeseen declared national, state, or municipal emergency; (b) when
30 a health care facility disaster plan is activated; or (c) any
31 unforeseen disaster or other catastrophic event which substantially
32 affects or increases the need for health care services.
33 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) Until July 1, 2025, the definition of
34 "employee" under RCW 49.28.130 as that statute existed prior to
35 January 1, 2025, applies to the following hospitals:
36 (a) Hospitals certified as critical access hospitals;
37 (b) Hospitals with fewer than 25 acute care licensed beds;
38 (c) Hospitals certified by the centers for medicare and medicaid
39 services as sole community hospitals that are not owned or operated
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1 by a health system that owns or operates more than one acute hospital
2 licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW; and
3 (d) Hospitals located on an island operating within a public
4 hospital district in Skagit county.
5 (2) This section expires July 1, 2025.
6 NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. This act takes effect January 1, 2025.
Passed by the House February 8, 2024.
Passed by the Senate February 27, 2024.
Approved by the Governor March 28, 2024.
Filed in Office of Secretary of State March 29, 2024.
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Statutes affected:
Original Bill: 49.28.130
Substitute Bill: 49.28.130
Bill as Passed Legislature: 49.28.130
Session Law: 49.28.130