Joel Sacks
Director of Washington State Department of Labor & Industries since 2013, overseeing workplace safety, workers' compensation, and wage enforcement.
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APPEARANCES
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PODCASTS
Jun 17, 2026
Austin JenkinsHOST
What is the reasoning for this increase? What's your message to the employer community about that level of increase?
Joel SacksGUEST
In Washington State, we're the only place where workers make a significant contribution to the premium payments.
Joel SacksGUEST
So on average, when you look at a dollar that we collect, about 25% of that comes from workers themselves.
Joel SacksGUEST
In terms of rates overall, We are looking to ensure that we're bringing in enough money to be able to cover costs, and inflation's happening.
Joel SacksGUEST
We do recognize that as wages go up, the amount that we would pay to a worker who's hurt on the job is gonna increase.
Joel SacksGUEST
We wanna make sure that we continue to pay adequately for medical providers across the state to continue to treat injured workers.
23 MINS LATER