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Nancy Grygorowicz-Davis
Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties
425.460.8216

Master Builders Association Names Lowe Director of Government Affairs

BELLEVUE, Wash.—June 26, 2018—The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties announced that it has named Marco M. Lowe as director of Government Affairs.

Prior to joining MBAKS, Lowe served as vice president of Seattle’s renewable district energy system, Enwave Seattle, where he led the system’s growth, government relations and other operational duties. Earlier, he served as department director in Seattle’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations.

Before his role at Enwave, Lowe worked as chief of staff at New York City’s Department of Small Business Services, as director of community relations for Mayor Greg Nickels and as a member of Gary Locke’s gubernatorial staff.

“I am very excited to be joining the team at MBAKS and am ready to help carry on the critical mission of housing the Puget Sound region,” Lowe says on his new role. “The advocacy work at the association is an integral part of this mission, and I am lucky to be working with such a strong group on the Government Affairs team.”

MBAKS Executive Director Kat Sims says, “In our continued efforts to advocate for the builders and residents of our great region, Marco’s experience with city government will be an asset to our association members as well as the cities and homeowners for which they build market-rate, middle-income and affordable housing options.”

Lowe received a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Washington before earning his master’s degree in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Lowe begins his tenure at MBAKS June 27.

About MBAKS

Founded in 1909, the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties (MBAKS) has grown to become the largest residential home builders association in the United States. With 2,900 member companies, the association is dedicated to membership value, housing advocacy, community service and financial stewardship throughout the Puget Sound region.

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Five Key Things to Know About Washington’s New Sick Leave Law

By Larry Dickinson, PrimePay

In 2006, the City of San Francisco passed the first mandatory sick leave law in the country. Since then, many other states and municipalities have adopted similar statutes. In fact, 47 states and the District of Columbia have considered establishing such ordinances to help protect the wages of employees affected by illness, injury, or domestic violence.

1. Washington law—the basics

   In November 2016, voters in Washington state voted to establish a mandatory sick leave law for workers in their state. Starting in January of 2018, all employees covered under the Washington State Minimum Wage law must accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked.

   This law applies to all employers, even if they only have one employee. The problem is that many large cities in Washington such as Seattle and Tacoma have also adopted their own sick leave measures, and these measures are not always in sync with the state law.

   What is the employer to do? We will attempt to highlight some of the differences between state law and those of the municipalities. Note that we are using Washington state as the example here; the same scenarios are playing out in other states around the nation.

2. Allowable uses of sick leave

   According to the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, employees will be allowed to use sick leave for themselves or a family member for these reasons:

• To care for themselves or family members.
• When the employees’ workplace or their child’s school (or place of care) has been closed by a public official for health-related reasons.
• Absences that qualify under the Domestic Violence Leave Act.

Note that employers may allow employees to use paid sick leave for additional purposes.

Unlike the laws adopted in Tacoma and Spokane, the Washington state regulation does not cover bereavement due to the death of family members.

3. Family member definition

Washington allows the usage of paid sick leave for personal illness or injury as well as for family members defined below:

• Child
• Parent
• Spouse
• Grandparent
• Grandchild
• Sibling
• Registered domestic partner

The big difference here is that Washington state allows that the child relationship is enforced regardless of the age of the child, while the city regulations only cover children up to the age of 18.

4. Accrual of sick time

   In general, employees must earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. This covers all non-exempt employees covered by the Washington State Minimum Wage Law. There is currently no coverage for exempt workers, including white collar workers, outside salespeople or other professionals.

   In many of the local regulations, white collar workers are covered with the assumption of a flat 40-hour work week. Seattle law, as an example, covers all workers who work in the City of Seattle. While the new state law applies to all employers with even one employee, local laws can be applied differently depending on the size of the company. There is currently no cap on the number of hours earned each year by an employee. There is a cap on the number of hours that can carry over into the next year.

   Read a full list of FAQs.

5. What should your business do?

   In today’s business climate, employers are often confronted with conflicting city and state ordinances regarding sick leave accrual and usage. These laws and their differences can provide today’s small business owner with a nightmare.

   How do you apply different laws to different groups of employees with different job descriptions, working in different jurisdictions? An automated time and attendance system is a great option.

   PrimePay offers a variety of systems to meet any employer’s needs. These programs can define almost any type of accrual policy imaginable and apply those policies to different groups of employees based on geography, employee type, or job description. Let the professionals at PrimePay build a system that will keep you in compliance for years to come.

Learn more at primepay.com.

This article originally appeared on primepay.com.

The winners of the 2017 NAHB Association Excellence Awards were recently unveiled and the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties is proud to announce we have been honored with two awards. 

The country’s largest and oldest local homebuilders association won Best HBA Partnership/Coalition in the HBA Operations category, as well as Best Publication (print or electronic) in the Communications category, the latter for Master Builder magazine. 

The Building Industry Association of Washington, our state-level partner association, also won an AEA for Best Regional Government Affairs Effort for their "Fix Hirst" campaign.

The annual AEA Awards recognize HBAs across the country for their outstanding accomplishments at the state and local levels, as well as HBA executive officers in the field of association management. 

Congratulations to all who helped MBAKS win these distinguished awards! View the full list of 2017 AEA winners.

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