Seattle OLS announces rulemaking for new independent contractor law

The Seattle Office of Labor Standards (OLS) recently announced it will conduct an administrative rulemaking process related to the city’s new independent contractor protections (ICP) ordinance. The OLS will hold five virtual stakeholder meetings to solicit input on the rules.

Who’s covered by new ordinance

The Seattle City Council passed the ICP ordinance in June 2021. The measure, which takes effect September 1, 2022, adds a new chapter to the city’s municipal code requiring covered hiring entities to provide independent contractors with certain disclosures at various points in the contracting relationship. It contains two key definitions:

Hiring entities. They include essentially any company regularly engaging in business or commercial activity, including not-for-profit organizations, according to the OLS’s ICP fact sheet. 

Independent contractors. They cover any self-employed person hired to provide services in exchange for compensation, but there are a few exceptions: The law doesn’t reach attorneys or contractors whose relationship with a hiring entity is limited to renting property. For example, a hair stylist who rents a chair at a salon isn’t considered to be an independent contractor.