Washington SB 5459: Concerning the beginning educator support team program.

Bill Text

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5459
Chapter 114, Laws of 2025
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
CALL CENTER EMPLOYERS—RELOCATION
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 27, 2025
Passed by the Senate March 3, 2025
Yeas 30 Nays 19
DENNY HECK
President of the Senate
Passed by the House April 10, 2025
Yeas 89 Nays 6
LAURIE JINKINS
Speaker of the House of
Representatives
CERTIFICATE
I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of
the Senate of the State of
Washington, do hereby certify that
the attached is ENGROSSED
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5459 as
passed by the Senate and the House
of Representatives on the dates
hereon set forth.
SARAH BANNISTER
Secretary
Approved April 22, 2025 9:18 AM FILED
April 22, 2025
BOB FERGUSON
Governor of the State of Washington
Secretary of State
State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to call center retention; adding a new chapter to 1
Title 50 RCW; and prescribing penalties.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply 4
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 5
otherwise.6
(1) "Call center" means a facility or other operation in which 7
the primary activity is workers making or receiving phone calls or 8
other electronic communication for the purpose of providing customer 9
assistance or other service.10
(2) "Employer" means any employer as defined in RCW 50.04.080 11
that employs, for purposes of a call center: (a) 50 or more workers, 12
excluding part-time workers; or (b) 50 or more workers who in the 13
aggregate work at least 1,500 hours per week, excluding overtime.14
(3) "Part-time worker" means an individual who works for an 15
average of fewer than 20 hours per week or who has worked for fewer 16
than six of the 12 months preceding the date on which notice is 17
required under section 2 of this act.18
(4) "State agency" means any state department, office, division, 19
board, commission, or higher education institution.20
ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5459
Passed Legislature - 2025 Regular Session
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senate Labor & Commerce (originally sponsored by Senators
Stanford, Saldaña, Conway, Hasegawa, Valdez, Nobles, and C. Wilson)
READ FIRST TIME 02/18/25.
p. 1 ESSB 5459.SL

(5) "Work" means personal service performed by an employee or 1
contractor for a wage or under any contract calling for the 2
performance of written or oral personal services, express or implied.3
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1)(a) An employer that intends to 4
relocate a call center, or one or more facilities or operating units 5
within a call center comprising at least 25 percent of the call 6
center's or operating unit's total volume when measured against the 7
previous 12-month average call volume of operations or substantially 8
similar operations from the state to a foreign country must notify 9
the commissioner at least 120 days before such relocation.10
(b) For state agencies, the requirements in this subsection only 11
apply to relocations to a foreign country, not to another state.12
(c) For state agencies, the requirements in this subsection do 13
not apply to any facilities or other operations in which the primary 14
activity or work is providing language interpretation services.15
(2) An employer that violates subsection (1) of this section is 16
subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $10,000 for each day of such 17
violation, except that the commissioner may reduce such amount if the 18
governor or the president has declared a state of emergency for the 19
location of the call center.20
(3) The commissioner must compile a semiannual list of all 21
employers that have notified the commissioner under subsection (1) of 22
this section and post the list on the employment security 23
department's website. The commissioner must also distribute the list 24
to all state agencies.25
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) A call center employer that appears on 26
the list specified in section 2 of this act is ineligible for any 27
direct or indirect grants or loans awarded by a state agency for five 28
years after the employer appears on the list. The employment security 29
department, in consultation with the appropriate state agency, may 30
waive the ineligibility if the employer applying for a grant or loan 31
demonstrates that the lack of the grant or loan would result in 32
substantial job loss in the state or would harm the environment.33
(2) If a state agency finds that a call center employer was 34
ineligible under this section for a grant or loan that was awarded 35
after the effective date of this section, the employer must 36
immediately remit the value of the grant or loan.37
p. 2 ESSB 5459.SL

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. State agency contracts made after the 1
effective date of this section for purchases of call center services, 2
with the exception of interpreter services, must provide that the 3
work performed by the contractor or its agents or subcontractors be 4
p