Some Washington healthcare employers will be subject to new rules for meal and rest break starting next year. Moving forward, under RCW 49.12.480...

United States Washington Employment and HR

Charlotte K. Hodde and Josh M. Goldberg Your Author LinkedIn Connections

Some Washington healthcare employers will be subject to new rules for meal and rest break starting next year. Moving forward, under RCW 49.12.480, there are new hoops employers must jump through in order to secure waivers for certain meal and break time requirements, which means updates to handbook policies and the waiver form.

Under the current law, non-exempt hospital employees who are directly involved in patient care or clinic services may waive any meal break as long as it is voluntary and the waiver is provided in advance of the meal break. Effective January 1, 2026, meal breaks may be waived for any healthcare employee with a shift of less than eight hours. Employees with longer shifts may also waive their second or third meal break, but only if they already take at least one meal break during their shift.

The amendments preserve employees' ability to skip their meal and rest breaks in the event of an unforeseeable emergent circumstance, or clinical circumstance that may lead to a significant adverse effect on the patient, regardless of their shift length.

An employer and employee may also agree to relax the timing requirements of their meal and rest breaks. In these cases, the new meal break must...

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