2023 Revised Code of Washington › Title 49 - Labor Regulations › Chapter 49.12 - Industrial Welfare. › 49.12.480 - Meal and rest breaks for health care facility employees.

RCW 49.12.480
Meal and rest breaks for health care facility employees. (Effective until July 1, 2024.)
(1) An employer shall provide employees with meal and rest periods as required by law, subject to the following:
(a) Rest periods must be scheduled at any point during each work period during which the employee is required to receive a rest period;
(b) Employers must provide employees with uninterrupted meal and rest breaks. This subsection (1)(b) does not apply in the case of:
(i) An unforeseeable emergent circumstance, as defined in RCW 49.28.130; or
(ii) A clinical circumstance, as determined by the employee, employer, or employer's designee, that may lead to a significant adverse effect on the patient's condition:
(A) Without the knowledge, specific skill, or ability of the employee on break; or
(B) Due to an unforeseen or unavoidable event relating to patient care delivery requiring immediate action that could not be planned for by an employer;
(c) For any rest break that is interrupted before ten complete minutes by an employer or employer's designee under the provisions of (b)(ii) of this subsection, the employee must be given an additional ten minute uninterrupted rest break at the earliest reasonable time during the work period during which the employee is required to receive a rest period. If the elements of this subsection are met, a rest break shall be considered taken for the purposes of the minimum wage act as defined by chapter 49.46 RCW.
(2) The employer shall provide a mechanism to record when an employee misses a meal or rest period and maintain these records.
(3) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) "Employee" means a person who:
(i) Is employed by a health care facility;
(ii) Is involved in direct patient care activities or clinical services;
(iii) Receives an hourly wage or is covered by a collective bargaining agreement; and
(iv) Is a licensed practical nurse or registered nurse licensed under chapter 18.79 RCW, a surgical technologist registered under chapter 18.215 RCW, a diagnostic radiologic technologist or cardiovascular invasive specialist certified under chapter 18.84 RCW, a respiratory care practitioner licensed under chapter 18.89 RCW, or a nursing assistant-certified as defined in RCW 18.88A.020.
(b) "Employer" means hospitals licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW, except that the following hospitals are excluded until July 1, 2021:
(i) Hospitals certified as critical access hospitals under 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1395i-4;
(ii) Hospitals with fewer than twenty-five acute care beds in operation; and
(iii) Hospitals certified by the centers for medicare and medicaid services as sole community hospitals as of January 1, 2013, that: Have had less than one hundred fifty acute care licensed beds in fiscal year 2011; have a level III adult trauma service designation from the department of health as of January 1, 2014; and are owned and operated by the state or a political subdivision.
[ 2019 c 296 § 1.]
NOTES:
Effective date—2019 c 296: "This act takes effect January 1, 2020." [ 2019 c 296 § 4.]
(1) An employer shall provide employees with meal and rest periods as required by law, subject to the following:
(a) Rest periods must be scheduled at any point during each work period during which the employee is required to receive a rest period;
(b) Employers must provide employees with uninterrupted meal and rest breaks. This subsection (1)(b) does not apply in the case of:
(i) An unforeseeable emergent circumstance, as defined in RCW 49.28.130; or
(ii) An unforeseeable clinical circumstance, as determined by the employee that may lead to a significant adverse effect on the patient's condition, unless the employer or employer's designee determines that the patient may suffer life-threatening adverse effects;
(c) For any work period for which an employee is entitled to one or more meal periods and more than one rest period, the employee and the employer may agree that a meal period may be combined with a rest period. This agreement may be revoked at any time by the employee. If the employee is required to remain on duty during the combined meal and rest period, the time shall be paid. If the employee is released from duty for an uninterrupted combined meal and rest period, the time corresponding to the meal period shall be unpaid, but the time corresponding to the rest period shall be paid.
(2)(a) The employer shall provide a mechanism to record when an employee misses a meal or rest period and maintain these records.
(b) The employer must provide a quarterly report to the department of the total meals and rest periods missed in violation of this section during the quarter covered by the report, and the total number of meals and rest periods required during the quarter. The reports are due to the department 30 calendar days after the conclusion of the calendar quarter.
(c) The provisions of (b) in this subsection (2) do not apply to hospitals defined in RCW 70.41.420(7)(b)(iv) until July 1, 2026.
(3) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(a) "Employee" means a person who:
(i) Is employed by an employer;
(ii) Is involved in direct patient care activities or clinical services; and
(iii) Receives an hourly wage or is covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
(b) "Employer" means hospitals licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW.
[ 2023 c 114 § 8; 2019 c 296 § 1.]
NOTES:
Effective date—2023 c 114: See note following RCW 70.41.410.
Effective date—2019 c 296: "This act takes effect January 1, 2020." [ 2019 c 296 § 4.]