The Seattle Office of Labor Standards posted the final administrative rules for Seattle’s Secure Scheduling Ordinance (SMC 14.22) which goes into effect on July 1, 2017. Until December 31, this will be considered a “soft launch” focused on education and “support” for employers, meaning no penalties or fines will be assessed on employers. Joint employers are addressed in several locations within the rules. In particular:

• Employees who are jointly employed. Employees who are jointly employed by two or more employers, including but not limited to employees employed by a covered employer and a temporary service provider, staffing agency, contractor, subcontractor, or other employer, shall be considered a “new employee” upon starting each distinct assignment. Each employer shall be individually and jointly responsible for providing a good faith estimate at the beginning of each distinct assignment.
• Access to hours. Before hiring new employees from an external applicant pool or subcontractors, including hiring through the use of temporary services or staffing agencies, the employer must offer additional hours of work to existing employees when those hours become available at their place of work as defined by the employers usual and customary business practice.

In addition, many of the notice requirements under the law do not apply to employees who are jointly covered and are not on the employer’s payroll. Joint employers should identify clients that may be covered and how to work with them to ensure the requirements are met in light of the final rules. Because July is a “soft launch”, this should allow enough time for compliance or any changes that need to take place.