Seven Kiddie Academy child care centers in King and Snohomish counties will pay $252,500 to workers to settle allegations that they unlawfully restricted employees from taking babysitting and other caregiving jobs outside work.
The settlement, approved Oct. 23 in King County Superior Court, affects policies the Washington Attorney General’s Office estimates may have covered more than 600 workers.
The restrictions extended to parents, too. According to the state’s complaint, the centers’ parent handbook asked families not to approach staff about babysitting, transportation or full-time employment. The filing alleges that employees, whom the centers paid $22 to $23 an hour, passed up opportunities to supplement their income.
An April employee newsletter reinforced the restriction: “Babysitting Reminder: Please note that babysitting children in the academy and offering babysitting services to our families is against our policy,” according to the complaint.
The franchise operators deny wrongdoing. In the signed consent decree, they maintain that their policies allowed lawful outside employment and say they settled to avoid the expense and uncertainty of litigation.
Under the agreement, employees earning less than twice the minimum wage will not need permission to provide outside child care to currently or formerly enrolled families. They must, however, give advance notice to a director or manager before working for a currently enrolled family. The centers retain the ability to address actual conflicts of interest within the law.
Washington law generally protects workers earning below that threshold from restrictions on additional employment, with exceptions involving safety, reasonable scheduling expectations and other legal obligations.
“We will continue to hold employers accountable when they break Washington law,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in the settlement announcement.
The seven franchise businesses—Seattle Academy LLC, Bellevue Childcare LLC, Bothell Academy LLC, Greenwood Academy LLC, Kenmore Academy LLC, Mill Creek Academy LLC and Redkirk Academy LLC—must also train managers on Washington’s outside-employment protections. In addition to the worker payments, they will pay $10,000 to the AG’s office for costs and enforcement. The decree runs for two years.
