State agency working to return money for Washington workers
OLYMPIA – Gov. Bob Ferguson and the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries are returning lost earnings to more than 2,000 Washington workers at O’Reilly Auto Parts after an investigation revealed the retailer was unlawfully eliminating unused sick pay.
Washington’s paid sick leave law requires employers to allow workers to carry over up to 40 hours of unused paid sick leave from one year to the next. Labor & Industries discovered O’Reilly improperly eliminated unused sick leave for 2,327 employees at nearly 160 locations statewide when the company switched to a new payroll vendor at the end of 2022.
“My administration will always center Washingtonians in every action we take and fight for fair treatment for workers,” Ferguson said. “We will return this money to the hard-working employees who earned it. Labor & Industries will hold companies accountable to the people.”
Typically, Labor & Industries allows workers to choose whether to have their leave reinstated or receive a payout for the value of the leave. Because most of the workers in this case no longer work at O’Reilly, the state ordered the retailer to pay all the workers the value of the lost leave — a total of $163,458.
“Washington workers should always get the money they’ve earned, and paid sick leave is part of a worker’s total compensation,” said Labor & Industries Director Joel Sacks. “Thanks to our investigators, more than 2,000 workers have money coming to them.”
Labor & Industries’ Proactive Investigations and Enforcement Unit started investigating O’Reilly at a Puyallup distribution center in September 2023. Investigators soon discovered the issue affected locations statewide.
Workers who feel they may be owed money in the O’Reilly paid sick leave case should contact Labor & Industries by sending an email or calling toll free 1-866-219-7321.
Prior investigations into O’Reilly’s conduct
This is not the first time the state has penalized O’Reilly for its workplace practices. In 2023, then-Attorney General Ferguson filed a lawsuit against the company for systemic discrimination and retaliation against pregnant employees.
In 2014, Ferguson’s office investigated O’Reilly for not providing health care benefits to same-sex spouses that the company was providing to other married couples. The action resulted in O’Reilly changing its health care policy nationwide to provide benefits to same-sex couples.
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