As of Jan 1st, 2024, WA will have the highest minimum wage with workers earning $16.28 per hour, more than doubling the federal minimum wage of $7.25. Workers under 16 may still earn $13.84 per hour. Additionally, with the Washington Paid Sick Leave Law, workers will now earn 1 hour of sick time for every 40 hours worked.

Also starting the first of January, most employers can not test for cannabis use as a condition for hiring someone. They can still test for impairment on the job, and some safety-related jobs will still require pre-employment checks.

A ten day waiting period for the purchase of all guns will start in the new year. You will also need to pass a safety-training program or show proof of exemption for one.

Read more about these and more laws that could affect you.

The Paid Leave Program is funded by premiums collected from employees and employers through quarterly reporting. By law, these rates are recalculated and adjusted annually based on premiums contributed and benefits paid during the previous year.

Starting Jan 1, 2024:

[[ ul ]] The total premium rate will decrease to 0.74% | Employers will pay 28.57% of the total premium and employees will pay 71.43% | Businesses classified be the Employment Security Department as having fewer than 50 employees for the 2024 calendar year are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium. However, you must still collect the employee premium or ay employees’ premiums on their behalf.

Next Steps for Employers:

[[ ul ]] Notify your employees that you will begin collecting the new rate on Jan. 1, 2024. An updated employer toolkit, mandatory poster and paycheck insert are available in the Paid Leave Help Center | On Jan. 1, 2024, start collecting the new premium rate each pay period from your employees’ total gross wages, not including tips. Once an employee meets the social security cap, you need to stop collecting premiums but continue to report their wages. The Social Security cap for the 2024 calendar year will increase to $168,600 | First quarter premiums using the new rate are due by the end of April 2024. Remember: you cannot retroactively withhold premiums for employees

[[ image ]] The Salmon School

The entrance to the gallery is narrow, designed to feel a bit like like a fish ladder. There’s lots of signage about the science and the show’s worldwide travel, but soon you get to a single shimmering piece mounted on the wall. It’s at chest level with a sign above it that says: “please touch this fish…” Read More

In the summer of 1970, Ramona Bennett and a group of activists set up a fishing camp on the banks of the Puyallup River between Tacoma and Fife. This location was selected for its high visibility and Ramona, armed with a portable typewriter, kept news reporters informed as a way to raise awareness. The group had gathered in response to the violations of Native fishing rights. Such “Fish-Ins” had been occurring since around 1963 and had drawn national attention to the topic of Native sovereignty in the Pacific Northwest. Read More

The Department of Agriculture just finished their annual invasive pest survey and for the second year in a row have detected no murder hornets. They will begin removing the more than 800 norther giant hornet traps they have monitored since July. There are 200 additional traps placed by other agencies and private citizen scientists as well.

There is still work to be done as the hornets cannot be considered eradicated until the department has three consecutive years without detection.

There are 130 additional species the department’s pest program looks at each year and you can also help. To learn more about all of these species, how you can help and become a citizen scientist check out agr.wa.gov.

Just a quick reminder that there are two more sessions before the holiday break. The topic this Saturday 12/16 is "One Human Family" and will be held at 3 pm at the Tacoma Public Library Swasey Branch, 7001 6th Ave Tacoma, WA 98406, and repeated Tuesday 12/19 at 1 pm at the Tacoma Public Library South Tacoma Branch, 3411 S 56th St, Tacoma, WA 98409. At both meetings we will be exploring these themes:

The Historical Forces at Play | How can we understand this difficult moment in history?

Coming Together to Progress | How can living the spiritual principle of oneness help society prosper?

Removing Barriers to Unification | How can we re-orient ourselves to help foster unity?

Join either meeting or both. Same content, same format. Typically, the Saturday meeting is larger (15-25), so expect to hear a broad diversity of observations and voices. The Tuesday meeting is smaller (5-15), so it can be more conversational and go deeper.

RSVP: Saturday Dec 16th & Tuesday Dec 19th

The next and final Lunch & Learn on the Creative Industries, Economy and Artistic Communities in WA will take place Friday February 9th, 2024 from 11am - 2pm at Tacoma Community College, Building 11, Student Center.

They will have free catered lunch provided by Taquizas Chuy for the first 200 people to register and show up that day, and over a dozen vendors, giveaways and networking with 200+ industry and creative professionals, local celebrities, artists, musicians, content creators and social media influencers.

They will also have a panel discussion on the current state of our creative industries and economy, and will be presenting an action plan on building a sustainable, vibrant, equitable, accessible and inclusive creative community here in Washington State.

An email will go out in the upcoming weeks with a flyer, registration link and more details and you can check back here at the Weekly Volcano as we will send it to you in a future newsletter.

If you are an arts organization, non-profit focused on the creative or artistic industries, or an employer offering opportunities in the creative space, please let Carlos know if you would like a free informational table at the event and he can connect with you with details. There are 20 spots available so it is first come first served.

Contact: Carlos A. Ortiz, Writer/Director/Producer at Zeta-Maya, (253) 495-1462

https://zetamaya.com

Tacoma Public Library (TPL) is deeply invested in and supported by community partnerships. One of these is with Tacomaprobono, a nonprofit organization that provides free civil, legal aid to Pierce County. Tacomaprobono offers free legal aid pop-ups in Tacoma Public Library’s neighborhood libraries. So far in 2023, TPL has hosted 51 tabling events and over 300 individuals have received free legal help. Due to the success of this partnership, TPL was recognized with an award at Tacomaprobono’s recent banquet.

“Tacomaprobono meets with community members in our neighborhood libraries who are in need of legal services. The library is often the first place people go for help, so Tacomaprobono aligns with our service approach in a nearly seamless way,” stated Neighborhood Services Manager Lisa Bitney.

Check TPL’s calendar for the next time you can fine Tacomaprobono tabling at your neighborhood library.