Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

AGO 1999 NO. 2 >

Whenever a public employee is required to perform active military service and misses his or her work on a particular calendar day due to such military service, the employee is excused from work on that day and uses one of the 15 days of military leave granted per year by RCW 38.40.060.

AGO 2006 NO. 3 >

1. State and local public employees, including teachers, have no legally protected right to strike. 2. State statute establishes no specific penalties for unlawful public employee strikes; in some cases, courts may grant injunctive relief to prevent or end unlawful strikes. 3. The Legislature could enact laws establishing penalties for unlawful public employee strikes, provided that such laws are consistent with protected free speech and other state and federal constitutional rights.

AGO 2010 NO. 6 >

The Wage Payment Act applies to complaints by state and local public employees.

AGLO 1982 NO. 10 >

Where an employee covered by chapter 51, Laws of 1982, 1st Ex. Sess., terminates his or her employment before July 1, 1982, payment for that employee's accrued annual leave need not actually also be made before that date in order to avoid the new prohibition set forth therein.

AGO 1995 NO. 13 >

Cities and towns of all classes have authority to establish and administer employee incentive programs for their employees, so long as the program and appropriately definite performance standards are established before the period covered by the program.

AGO 2006 NO. 14 >

1. State employees may exercise their right of nonassociation with a labor union under RCW 41.80.100(2) based upon strongly held private religious objections to union membership, even if the objections are not based on the teachings of an established church or religious body. If there is a dispute between an employee and a union concerning the exercise of the right of nonassociation under RCW 41.80.100(2), the matter is resolved by the Public Employment Relations Commission. 3.State employees are not required to use a payroll deduction system to pay the union fees and dues set forth in RCW 41.80.100, but they may pay separately by personal check or other method so long as they make timely payments in the correct amount.

AGO 1975 NO. 20 >

(1) Because the governor's veto of § 2 of Substitute Senate Bill No. 2408 (chapter 296, Laws of 1975, 1st Ex. Sess.), the public agencies now responsible for the performance of the functions thereby proposed by this act to be transferred to a new "public employment relations commission" will continue to perform those functions after September 8, 1975, in the absence of further legislative action.  (2) In view of the governor's veto of § 4 of Substitute Senate Bill No. 2500 (chapter 288, Laws of 1975, 1st Ex.Sess.), certificated school district employees will, in the absence of further legislative action, continue after January 1, 1976, to be governed by the provisions of the school employees' professional negotiations act (chapter 28A.72 RCW), notwithstanding the express repeal thereof by the 1975 act, except to the extent that such provisions of the new law as are unaffected by the veto are in conflict with the earlier law.  (3) Administration of the provisions of chapter 288, Laws of 1975, 1st Ex. Sess., and chapter 296, Laws of 1975, 1st Ex. Sess., following their respective effective dates, by a new state agency will be unnecessary unless the governor's vetoes of portions thereof are overridden by the legislature or the vetoed sections are reenacted in a different form.

AGO 1953 NO. 72 >

1. State employees retirement.  Extension of service of an employee passed 70 years of age is effective beyond April 1, 1953, not withstanding the passage of chapter 200, Laws of 1953. 2. Such extension entitles the employee to continue to be a fully contributing member and qualify for further benefits under the retirement act. 3. Section 21, chapter 200, Laws of 1953 has no effect upon the rights of such employee to continue in service and to continue to be a fully contributing member of the retirement system.

AGO 1955 NO. 135 >

Longshoremen, who work as casual, intermittent employees of a port district are not public employees within the contemplation of chapter 377, Laws of 1955, and need not be required to subscribe to the non-subversive [[nonsubversive]] oath.

AGO 1953 NO. 150 >

State departments may not pay out of public funds all or any part of the premium cost of group insurance coverage of their employees.