WCCE is excited to announce the return of the in person Annual Chamber Professional Leadership Conference, October 26 – 28, 2022 at the Marriott Tacoma Downtown. Planning for the conference agenda and all the extras that we’ve come to expect from past in-person conferences is underway. For more information about the conference along with registration information, click here.
WCCE holds twice a month for Chamber professionals, Zoom calls on the 3rd Friday at 10AM for July and August. Chamber Pros will learn from each other, especially when it comes to community and economic challenge impacting their businesses.
The WCCE Exec2Exec Zoom call is a open agenda providing Chamber professionals the opportunity to share ideas and concerns while hearing from others as to how they are reacting to current circumstances.
Looking for a specific Chamber to contact, you'll find some 200 Chambers listed by clicking on the following link: Chamber Directory
All members of WCCE are encouraged to join the "MEMBERS" Facebook group. Ask to join by clicking on the following: WCCE Member Facebook Group
Your WCCE membership grants you access to hundreds of documents, presentations, and forms that have been used by your Washington colleagues to run their chambers.
For the time being, the Resource Vault will be open to all Chamber professionals in Washington State. A new category for COVID-19 related documents has been created that will house documents and information shared by Chamber Professionals.
You can click on the following to login in and access the library: WCCE Resource Vault
Have a question or issue that you need some feedback for your colleagues? The WCCE Google Group Listserv is a great way to ask that burning question and receive input from your contemporaries who are successfully leading their Chambers. If you are not currently signed up, contact the WCCE office at admin@wcce.org.
Creating a workplace safety culture requires collaboration among employers, management, and workers. For this reason, Washington state’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) requires all businesses to have a safety plan in place specific to each of their locations.
The first step to establishing a foundation on which to build a business’s safety culture is the creation of an Accident Prevention Program (APP) that is both thoroughly prepared and frequently updated.
One of the most frequent citations issued by L&I’s Division of Safety and Health is to businesses without an APP or an updated plan in place specific to their current business operations.
The good news is that Washington Retail (WR) has been developing a unique tool to help make it easier for its members to create an APP.
WR received grant funding from the Safety and Health Investment Projects (SHIP) program to create an electronic APP (eAPP.) SHIP is a Division of Occupational Safety and Health at Washington Labor & Industries.
The eAPP tool guides the user through step-by-step assessments to develop a customized APP quickly and makes it easy to keep it current. eAPP also makes it convenient to quickly create similar plans for other business locations and is perfect for anyone looking to start or update their APP.
See a short video about eAPP. You can also try the beta version of the eAPP.
For more information you can contact Rick Means at rmeans@washingtonretail.org or at 360.200.6454.
Pain in the neck? Whether you are working from home still or back at the office, take time to improve your workspace posture. If seated at a desk, try working in 45-minute blocks with a short break, place the top of the screen at eye level, make text large enough to avoid squinting or leaning forward. If standing, add a cushioned mat under your feet & shift your posture frequently. For more information on office-related discomfort, visit @Washington Department of Labor & Industries website at https://lni.wa.gov/safety-health/preventing-injuries-illnesses/sprains-strains/office-ergonomics.
Check out the new salary thresholds for non-compete agreements in Washington State. Only employees or independent contractors who earn more than the thresholds established by law can be held to non-competition agreements. If you have earnings less than the threshold, the non-compete agreements is considered void and unenforceable. For employees, the 2022 threshold is $107,301.04 and for independent contractors, it is now $268,252.59. For more info visit Washington Department of Labor & Industries website at https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/workplace-policies/non-compete-agreements
Do you need help understanding the new overtime rules in Washington State? On January 1st, the exempt threshold increased. These changes affect employees defined as executive, administrative and professional, as well as outside salespeople and computer professionals. In 2022, for both small and large businesses, the threshold is $1,014.30/week ($52,743.60/year). By the time the rule is fully implemented in 2028, a salaried exempt employee will have to be paid at least 2.5 times the state minimum wage. Visit Washington State Department of Labor and Industries website at https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/overtime/overtime-rules-resources for more information.