Ahead of the state Immigrant Worker Protection Act taking full effect on Oct. 1, the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) is providing guidance and materials to help employers meet obligations under the law. In addition, the AGO is providing a webinar for AGC members on the new law on Sept. 23. Registration and more info on the webinar available here.
The law requires that employers inform workers within five business days when federal agents have issued a notice to conduct an inspection of workers’ employment eligibility documents, known as I-9 forms. The Attorney General’s Office has now issued guidance to help employers meet their new legal obligations under RCW 49.97, as well as materials for businesses, including a mandatory workplace poster and model notice forms in multiple languages.
See the guidance here.
The Legislature directed the AGO to produce several documents as part of the bill. Those documents have been released in English, Mandarin (Simplified Chinese), Russian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. The published materials include:
- A required workplace poster informing workers of the notice requirements in the law
- A model notice for employers to use to comply with the notice requirement
- Guidance to employers on their rights as a business when immigration officials come to a workplace or request other worker records
The AGO is reaching out to businesses, industry associations, and chambers of commerce to share these materials and offer proactive education about existing employer rights and responsibilities and their new requirements under the law. And again, be sure to sign up for the webinar here.