§ 14.17.010. Definitions

For purposes of this Chapter 14.17:

"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 employee's status to a nonemployee, or otherwise discriminating against any person for any reason prohibited by Section 14.17.030. "Adverse action" for an employee may involve any aspect of employment, including pay, work hours, responsibilities, or other material change in the terms and condition of employment.

"Agency" means the Office of Labor Standards and any division therein.

"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 14.17.

"Arrest record" means information indicating that a person has been apprehended, detained, taken into custody, held for investigation, or restrained by a law enforcement agency or military authority due to an accusation or suspicion that the person committed a crime.

"City" means The City of Seattle.

"Conviction Record" and "Criminal History Record Information" are meant to be consistent with chapter 10.97 RCW and mean information regarding a final criminal adjudication or other criminal disposition adverse to the subject, including a verdict of guilty, a finding of guilty, or a plea of guilty or nolo contendere. A criminal conviction record does not include any prior conviction that has been the subject of an expungement, vacation of conviction, sealing of the court file, pardon, annulment, certificate of rehabilitation, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of the rehabilitation of the person convicted, or a prior conviction that has been the subject of a pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of innocence. It does include convictions for offenses for which the defendant received a deferred or suspended sentence, unless the adverse disposition has been vacated or expunged.

"Criminal background check" means requesting or attempting to obtain, directly or through an agent, an individual's Conviction Record or Criminal History Record Information from the Washington State Patrol or any other source that compiles and maintains such records or information.

"Director" means the Director of the Office of Labor Standards or the Director's designee.

"Employ" means to suffer or permit to work.

"Employee" means any individual employed by an employer, including but not limited to full-time employees, part-time employees, and temporary workers.

1.

An employer bears the burden of proof that the individual is in business for oneself rather than dependent upon the alleged employer.

2.

For purposes of this Chapter 14.17, "employee" does not include an individual whose job duties or prospective job duties include law enforcement, policing, crime prevention, security, criminal justice, or private investigation services. In addition, "employee" does not include an individual who will or may have unsupervised access to children under 16 years of age, developmentally disabled persons, or vulnerable adults during the course of the individual's employment.

"Employer" means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, business trust, or any entity, person or group of persons, or a successor thereof, that employs another person and includes any such entity or person acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.

1.

More than one entity may be the "employer" if employment by one employer is not completely disassociated from employment by the other employer.

2.

For purposes of this Chapter 14.17, "employer" does not include any of the following:

a.

The United States government;

b.

The State of Washington, including any office, department, agency, authority, institution, association, society, or other body of the state, including the legislature and the judiciary;

c.

Any county or local government other than the City.

"Front pay" means the compensation the employee would earn or would have earned if reinstated to the employee's former position.

"Job applicant" means any individual who applies or is otherwise a candidate to become an employee, as defined in this Chapter 14.17.

A "legitimate business reason" shall exist where, based on information known to the employer at the time the employment decision is made, the employer believes in good faith that the nature of the criminal conduct underlying the conviction or the pending criminal charge either:

1.

Will have a negative impact on the employee's or applicant's fitness or ability to perform the position sought or held, or

2.

Will harm or cause injury to people, property, business reputation, or business assets, and the employer has considered the following factors:

a.

the seriousness of the underlying criminal conviction or pending criminal charge; and

b.

the number and types of convictions or pending criminal charges; and

c.

the time that has elapsed since the conviction or pending criminal charge, excluding periods of incarceration; and

d.

any verifiable information related to the individual's rehabilitation or good conduct, provided by the individual; and

e.

the specific duties and responsibilities of the position sought or held; and

f.

the place and manner in which the position will be performed.

"Pending criminal charge" means an existing accusation that an individual has committed a crime, lodged by a law enforcement agency or military authority through an indictment, information, complaint, or other formal charge, where the accusation has not yet resulted in a final judgment, acquittal, conviction, plea, dismissal, or withdrawal.

"Rate of inflation" means 100 percent of the annual average growth rate of the bi-monthly Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton 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.

"Respondent" means an employer or any person who is alleged or found to have committed a violation of this Chapter 14.17.

"Successor" means any person to whom an employer quitting, selling out, exchanging, or disposing of a business sells or otherwise conveys in bulk and not in the ordinary course of the employer's business, a major part of the property, whether real or personal, tangible or intangible, of the employer's business. For purposes of this definition, "person" means an individual, receiver, administrator, executor, assignee, trustee in bankruptcy, trust, estate, firm, corporation, business trust, partnership, limited liability partnership, company, joint stock company, limited liability company, association, joint venture, or any other legal or commercial entity.

"Tangible adverse employment action" means a decision by an employer to reject an otherwise qualified job applicant, or to terminate, suspend, discipline, demote, or deny a promotion to an employee.

"Wage" means compensation due to an employee by reason of employment, payable in legal tender of the United States or checks on banks convertible into cash on demand at full face value, subject to such deductions, charges, or allowances as may be permitted by rules of the Director.

(Ord. 125203 , § 6, 2016; Ord. 124960 , § 28, 2015; Ord. 124201, § 1, 2013.)