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Key Findings

1. The state Legislature is considering several bills that would impose additional regulations on small businesses.
2. Additional training material and language requirements in Senate Bill 6122 for temporary workers and employees would decrease safety, reduce wages and increase costs for small businesses.
3. Senate Bill 6122 would create a disincentive for employers to hire a diverse workforce as it requires translation of training material for every language hired.

Introduction

Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. In Washington state, small business owners employ 51% of the state’s total workforce – or 1.3 million people.

In eight Washington counties (Grant, Pend Oreille, Lincoln, Okanogan, Garfield, Klickitat, Pacific, Wahkiakum), small businesses provide jobs for 80% to 100% of the workforce.

Typically, a small business is defined as a firm with fewer than 500 employees. In the state’s largest city, Seattle, 94% of businesses have fewer than 50 employees, which is Washington state’s official definition of a small business.

Throughout the state, even businesses with fewer than 20 employees number in the hundreds of thousands. Many of these businesses employ parttime, occasional or specialist workers on a temporary basis to supplement their full-time workforce. The ability to have a flexible schedule and work for several employers on a part-time basis, is sometimes the desired option for independent and temporary workers.

Not everyone wants to work full time. The ability to work part-time and pursue other personal and family goals in life is an important value for hundreds of thousands of workers across the state.

Download the full Legislative Memo