Inslee issues proclamations around nursing home transfers, protection orders and state employee leave and pay

— from Governor Jay Inslee’s office —

Gov. Jay Inslee signed new proclamations today in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The orders impact nursing home transfers and discharge waivers, provide flexibility for protection orders and remove restrictions from pay and leave procedures for state employees.

“As society changes and evolves during this pandemic, we must continue to be flexible in how state services are delivered,” Inslee said.

The three proclamations are as follows:

• Nursing home transfers and discharges: The proclamation authorizes a nursing home to transfer or discharge residents to another long term care facility, even in cases in which a resident has appealed that transfer or discharge. This would improve the ability of facilities to care for similarly situated residents in a single location, and may help reduce the risk of a healthy resident being exposed to the virus.
  Read the full proclamation here.
• Protection orders and personal service: The proclamation provides flexibility and relief to courts by removing certain statutory hearing deadlines and service of process requirements as it relates to protection orders, including domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, extreme risk and other similar orders, to ensure access to justice for victims. It also retains the requirement that law enforcement serve such orders when a court orders the seizure of firearms and encourages the use of electronic service and remote hearings, in furtherance and support of the state Supreme Court’s recent order.     
  Read the full proclamation here.
• Annual leave and pay procedures for state employees: The proclamation removes restrictions on the ability to pay employees by mail (eliminating, to the extent possible, employees’ need to go to the office to get their check). It allows for shared leave for employees who have not been exposed to the COVID-19 but cannot telework and cannot come into the office due to the “Stay Home – Stay Health” order, and waives the requirement that an employee cannot carry over 240 hours of accrued vacation time on their anniversary date, as there are employees who cannot use leave due to participation in activities related to the state’s response.
  Read the full proclamation here.