Item No.: 6h_Supp_b
Meeting Date: December 9, 2014

By this resolution the Port of Seattle hereby adopts an equal benefits policy for Port

contractors as set forth in the attached Exhibit A.


ADOPTED by the Port Commission of the Port of Seattle at a regular meeting held this
25%   day of O ("'1'b"  2005 and duly authenticated in
,

open session by the signatures of the Commissioners voting in favor thereof and the seal of the

Commission.









Port Commissioners

EXHIBIT "A" to Resolution No. 3549, as Amended '

Domestic Partner Benefits for Port Contractors

1.      DEFINITIONS:

1.1    "Contract" means an agreement to perform public works, consulting services
including professional and technical services, or the purchase of goods and services, as
set out in Port Policies PUR 1 and PUR 2, that entails a legally binding obligation of
Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000) or more, or such other threshold dollar amount
as the Port of Seattle Commission may require in the future. A Contract does not include:

a contract between the Port and a public entity; a contract for the purchase, lease or rent
of real estate; banking and other nancial services; concession agreements; or a collective
bargaining agreement.

1.2    "Contract Award" means any notice of selection, notice of intent to award or
acceptance of a bid/proposal mailed or otherwise furnished to the successful contractor
that is intended to result in an executed contract. Until the contract is executed, any work
done on the project or commitment of any funds is at the contractor's risk.

1.3    "Contractor" means any person or persons, rm, partnership, corporation, or
combination thereof, including a "vendor" or a "consultant", who submits a bid, proposal,
and/or enters into a Contract with a Contract Awarding Authority.

1.4    "Domestic Partner" means any person who is a Domestic Partner, same sex or
opposite sex, and is registered with the employee's employer as the employee's Domestic
Partner or, in the absence of such an employer-provided registry, is registered as a
Domestic Partner with a governmental body in accordance with the state or local law
authorizing the registration. Any internal employer registry of domestic partnership must
comply with the criteria for domestic partnerships as specied herein.

1.5    Legally domiciled member of household means any person who currently lives in
the same primary residences as the employee; intends to continue living in the same
primary residence as the employee; is jointly responsible with the employee for the basic
living expenses of the household; is eighteen years of age or older; and is not married; or
is an adult, dependent relative living in the same primary residence as the employee and is
claimed as the employee's tax dependent.

1.6    "Employee Benets" or "Benets" means any plan, program or policy provided
by a Contractor to its employees as part of the employer's total compensation package.
"Employee Benets" includes, but is not limited to: pension and retirement benets,
medical, dental and vision plans or other health benets; bereavement, family medical,
parental and other leave policies; disability, life, and other types of insurance; employee
assistance programs; memberships or discounts; moving expenses; access to facilities,
services and events; travel and relocation expenses; incentive, stock option, and prot

sharing plans and other compensation programs; vacation; travel benets; and other
benets given to employees, provided that it does not include benets to the extent that
the application of the requirements of these rules to such benets may be preempted by
federal or state law.

1.7    "Non-discrimination in Benets" means the provision of the same or equivalent
benets to employees with spouses and employees with Domestic Partners, to spouses of
employees and Domestic Partners of employees, and to dependents and family members
of spouses and dependents and family members of Domestic Partners. Non
discrimination in Benets is also referred to as provision, or implementation, of "Equal
Benets" elsewhere within these rules.

1.8    "Reasonable Measures" means a determination by the Port of Seattle that a
reasonable amount of effort has been taken by the Contractor to provide the same or
equivalent benets to employees with spouses and employees with Domestic Partners,
and that no form of substantial compliance as dened in Section 2.6 applies to the
Contractor.

1.9    "Roster" means a list of qualied consultants or Contractors maintained by the
Port.

POLICIES:

2.1    Contracts: All Contracts awarded by the Port and covered by Resolution 3549
shall contain provisions developed by the Port requiring compliance with these
procedures and prohibiting discrimination in the provision of employee benets, except
as exempted herein, and all covered contractors shall submit an afdavit of compliance
with Resolution 3549 at the time of contract award.

2.2    Subcontracts and Subcontractors: The Non-discrimination in Benets
requirement does not apply to subcontracts or subcontractors.

2.2.1  Covered Entity: The scope of work, goods, or services as outlined in the
Contract will dene which entity or part of the legal structure of the contracting
company must comply with Resolution 3549. Separate corporate entities,
including parents and subsidiaries of the entity that contracts with the Port, are not
required to comply. In the case of a joint venture, all joint venture members are
required to comply with Resolution 3549.

2.3    Location: Contractors are encouraged to end discrimination in benets
throughout their operations in the US. The Non-discrimination in Benets requirement
applies to a Contractor in all of its operations located:

2.3.1  Within King County:

2.3.2  On real property outside of the County if the property is owned by the Port
or if the Port has a right to occupy the property, and if the Contractor's presence at
that location is connected to a Contract with the Port; or

2.3.3  Elsewhere in the United States where the Contractor performs work
relating to a Port Contract.

The determination of where compliance is required shall be based upon a
consideration of factors which include but are not limited to:

2.3.3.1 The nature of the work being performed in locations other than
King County;

2.3.3.2 The degree of connection between the contract at issue and the
work being performed in locations other than King County;

2.3.3.3 The amount of contact and communication that persons performing
work in locations other than King County have with other persons
performing work related to the contract.

2.4    Covered Benefits: A Contractor must not discriminate in all benefits offered to
married employees or employees with Domestic Partners, and in all benefits offered to
employees' spouses or employees' Domestic Partners.

2.4.1  Employee benefits covered by the federal Employment Retirement
Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA") must be offered on a non-discriminatory
basis under Resolution 3549. ERISAcovered benefits include benefits provided
under employee welfare plans (such as medical insurance) and employee pension
plans.

2.5    Employee Benefit Policies  Options for Compliance: Provided that a Contractor
does not discriminate in the provision of benefits between employees with spouses and
employees with Domestic Partners and between the spouses and Domestic Partners of
employees, the following employee benefit policies are in compliance with the
requirements of Resolution 3549:

2.5.1  The Contractor provides benefits to legally domiciled members of
households in addition to employees with spouses and employees with Domestic
Partners and the spouses and Domestic Partners of employees; or

2.5.2  The Contractor provides benefits on a basis independent of marital or
Domestic Partner status by allowing all employees to designate a legally
domiciled member of the employee's household as being eligible for spousal
equivalent benefits; or

2.5.3  The Contractor provides benefits neither to the spouse or domestic partner
of an employee.

2.6    Substantial Compliance  Non-Discriminatory Discrepancies in Benefits: A
Contractor will not be deemed to be discriminating in the provision of benefits where,
upon approval by the Port, the implementation of policies ending discrimination in
benefits is delayed, or cash equivalent is offered to the employees with a Domestic
Partner in lieu of ending discrimination. The Port shall not enter into a contract with a
Contractor unless they have received authorization from the Port to delay
implementation, or offer cash equivalent. The Contractor is responsible for submitting a
request for a finding of substantial compliance for the reasons set forth in this paragraph
in a timely manner.

Before the first award of a Contract to a Contractor, delays are considered for Open
Enrollment, Administrative Steps, and Collective Bargaining Agreements. Cash
Equivalent is also a consideration for Substantial Compliance.

2.6.1  Open Enrollment. The Contractor must submit evidence that a reasonable
amount of effort has been taken to end discrimination in benefits and can illustrate
that Equal Benefits will be offered upon the first effective date after the first open
enrollment process following the date the Contract with the Port begins. This
delay may not exceed twelve (12) months from the date the Contract with the Port
is entered, and only applies to benefits for which an open enrollment process is
applicable.

2.6.2  Administrative Steps. The Contractor must submit evidence that
additional time is needed in order to fully incorporate nondiscriminatory benefits
into its infrastructure. The time allotted for these administrative steps shall apply
only to those benefits for which administrative steps are necessary and may not
exceed three (3) months. An extension of this time may be granted at the
discretion of the Port upon the written request of the Contractor.

2.6.3  Collective Bargaining Agreement. The Contractor must submit evidence
of a current collective bargaining agreement(s) where all of the following
conditions have been met:

2.6.3.1 The provision of benefits is governed by one or more collective
bargaining agreement(s); and

2.6.3.2 The Contractor makes a reasonable amount of effort to end
discrimination in benefits by requesting that the union(s) involved agree to
either reopen the agreement(s) in order for the Contractor to take whatever
steps are necessary to end discrimination in benefits or the union ends
discrimination in benefits without reopening the collective bargaining
agreement(s).

2.6.4  Cash Equivalent Payment. In limited circumstances, the Port may
authorize a contractor to provide eligible employees with a cash equivalent
payment in lieu of benefits that are unavailable due to circumstances outside of
the contractor's control. Where a Contractor is unable to end discrimination in
benefits by the date of the Contract and, further, does not anticipate being able to
end discrimination in benefits at any time during the term of the Contract, the
Contractor must provide to employees with a Domestic Partner a Cash Equivalent
Payment.

The Cash Equivalent Payment shall be the amount of money paid by the
Contractor for the benefit given to a similarly situated employee during the term
of the Contract. Cash Equivalent is only what the company pays, and does not
include what the employee contributes. To the extent that a Contractor limits the
availability of any benefit to the spouses of employees, or vice versa, the
availability of a Cash Equivalent Payment may be similarly limited. The Cash
Equivalent Payment shall be made either on the same schedule as the Contractor
uses for the benefit given to employees with spouses, or, if no such schedule
exists, on another schedule so long as such payment is made no less than once per
month. No Cash Equivalent Payment will be required where making such a
payment would violate federal or state law.

2.7    Waivers: The Port, after encouraging a non-compliant prospective Contractor to
comply with Resolution 3549, may issue a waiver of certain Equal Benefit requirements
where:

2.7.1  Award of a Contract or amendment to a Contract is necessary in an
emergency;

2.7.2  The Contract is for a proprietary purchase from a sole source;

2.7.3  There are no Contractors capable of responding to the Por't's requirements
that comply with the provisions of Resolution 3549;

2.7.4  The Contractor, despite taking all reasonable measures to do so,
demonstrates it is unable to extend a particular employee benefit to Domestic
Partners;

2.7.4.1 The Port will determine whether a Contractor has taken all
Reasonable Measures upon the review of a Contractors written request for
a waiver that shall include documentation provided by the Contractor that
demonstrates that it is not possible for the Contractor to end discrimination
in benefits. Determinations shall be based upon the following factors:

2.7.4.1.1      All forms of Substantial Compliance as outlined in
these rules have been reviewed by the Contractor and they are still
unable to meet the requirements; and

2.7.4.1.2     The Contractor has contacted and identified, in
writing, a number of alternate benefit providers and provided
documentation that these providers will not provide benefits to
Domestic Partners. The Port's final determination will also be
based on the discovery, or existence of benefit providers willing to
offer these benefits to the Contractor; and

274.13    The existence of federal or state laws, which
preclude the Contractor from ending discrimination in benefits.

2.7.5  The requirements are inconsistent with a grant, subvention or agreement
with a public agency; or

2.7.6  The Port is purchasing goods and/or services through a cooperative or
joint purchasing agreement.

2.8    Requests for Waivers: Requests for waivers of these provisions are to be made by
the manager of the Port Department responsible for the contract work to the Chief
Executive Officer or his or her designee prior to the award of the Contract. The written
justification requesting a waiver must provide information on the following factors:

2.8.1  A description of the item or service to be purchased and the name of
contractor, vendor or consultant;

2.8.2  A clear statement of the kind of waiver being requested (i.e. emergency,
single source, etc);

2.8.3  Reference to what section of Equal Benefit Resolution 3549 is applicable
to the requested waiver;

2.8.4  An indication of reasons or rationale for the request for waiver and the
special circumstances;

2.8.5  A description of what efforts have been made to comply with Resolution
3549 and the results of these efforts;

2.8.6  A description of the steps taken to identify other qualified Contractors or
methods of purchasing and an explanation of the rationale for selecting the
Contractor or proposed method of purchasing.

2.8.7  The decisions by the Port to issue or deny Waivers are final.

2.9    Sanctions and Remedies: The Port shall determine and impose appropriate
sanctions or remedies, or both, for a Contractor's breach of a Contract subject to the
requirements of Resolution 3549 including, but not limited to:

2.9.1  Debarment of the Contractor from bidding on or being awarded a Contract
for up to five (5) years, provided however, the Contractor shall be given
reasonable notice and reasonable opportunity to be heard;

2.9.2  Remedies allowable by Contract including, but not limited to, liquidated
damages and termination of the Contract;

2.9.3  Other appropriate civil remedies and sanctions allowable by law;

2.9.4  Allowance for remedial action after a finding of non-compliance. Where
the Port determines that the best resolution of noncompliance would be remedial
action by the Contractor, the Port may take such action in lieu of Contract
termination or disqualification. The Port may require other appropriate remedial
action, including expedited implementation of equal benefits, provided that any
remedial action authorized under Resolution 3549 must be taken with sixty (60)
days of the date of the finding of noncompliance. Circumstances that would favor
remedial action include:

2.9.4.1 Where the Contractor's non-compliance was nominal or
unintentional; or

2.9.4.2 Where the Contractor believed in good faith that its benefits
policies were in compliance with the requirements of Resolution 3549; or

2.9.4.3 Where the Port determines that remedial action is superior to other
authorized sanctions or remedies in ensuring the provision of equal
benefits to eligible employees.

2.10  Internal Domestic Partnership Registry: For purposes of administering non
discriminatory benefits, a Contractor may choose to recognize as valid domestic
partnerships registered pursuant to any state or local law authorizing such registration.
For example, the City of Seattle maintains a Domestic Partnership Registry that has no
residency requirements, and any citizen, regardless of where they are located, may
register their Domestic Partnership with the City of Seattle. In addition, a Contractor may
institute an internal Domestic Partnership registry to allow for the provision of equal
benefits to employees with Domestic Partners. For employees who are located in a
jurisdiction where no governmental Domestic Partnership registry is available, and the
Contractor chooses not to utilize the City of Seattle's registry, the Contractor must utilize
an internal registry of Domestic Partnerships in order to administer Equal Benefits.

2.11   Verification of Domestic Partnership or Marriage: A Contractor may verify the
existence of a domestic partnership or marriage to the extent such verification is
undertaken equally for employees with Domestic Partners and employees with spouses.
If eligibility for employee benefits extended to the spouse of a married employee requires
the employee to provide a copy of a marriage license, the Contractor may also require an
employee seeking benefits for a Domestic Partner to also provide a Certificate of
Domestic Partnership.

2.12  Excess Cost: In the event that the actual cost of providing a particular benefit to
an employee with a Domestic Partner or an employee's Domestic Partner exceeds that of
providing the benefit to an employee with a spouse or to an employee's spouse, or vice
versa, the Contractor may condition its provision of equal benefits upon the employee
agreeing to pay the excess costs. The excess costs the Contractor may pass on to the
employee may include only the actual costs of the benefit for that employee and may not
include implementation or administrative costs, any tax consequence to the employer, or
additional costs to other employees.

2.13   Taxation: The withholding of income tax from an employee for income
associated with the provision of benefits is permissible to the extent the taxation is
required by state or federal law. A Contractor is not required to compensate employees
for any employee tax obligations associated with receipt of Domestic Partner benefits and
the application of federal or state tax law.

2.13.1 Nothing in these rules is intended to require a Contractor to take any
action that would jeopardize the tax-qualified status of a benefit plan.

2.14  Notification: Notification by a Contractor to its employees regarding the
provision of benefits to employees with spouses and employees with Domestic Partners
must be conducted so that all employees are given equal notice of all available benefits.

2.15   Application to Small Works and Other Roster Programs: The requirements of
Resolution 3549 apply to Contractors that enter into Contracts pursuant to a small works
or consultant roster program.

2.16  Investigative Authority: Upon the Contractor's entry into a Contract with the Port
or upon the Port's receipt of a Contractor's Bid Form or any other document in which the
Contractor asserts its compliance with the Non-discrimination in Benefits requirement,
the Port shall have the authority to inspect all supporting evidence reasonably necessary
to validate the Contractor's compliance with Resolution 3549. Supporting evidence may
include but is not limited to: documentation that defines or outlines benefit plans and
policies, reports, and information (including interviews) from Contractors, Contractor
employees, bidders, and others as necessary. Such investigation may be made subsequent
to a report of non-compliance or pursuant to a random audit of a Contractor's employee
benefits policies.


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A Contractor's failure to provide information requested pursuant to the Port's
investigative authority, will be a material breach of the Contract and subject the
Contractor to sanctions and/or remedies, as authorized by Contract and these rules.

2.17  Registering a Complaint of Non-Compliance: A covered employee may report to
the For: any alleged breach by a Contractor of Resolution 3549. All complaints under
Resolution 3549 from a covered employee shall be submitted to the Port. Other
Contractors, other covered employees, or other parties on behalf of a specific covered
employee may also make complaints, however they will not be considered to be protests.
Protests must follow the formal Bid Protest procedure. To the extent permitted by state
law, the Port will maintain the confidentiality of all complainants who register a
complaint pursuant to this provision (See, RCW Ch. 42.17, Washington State Public
Disclosure Act). Complainants will have the opportunity to request confidentiality when
registering their complaint.

2.18   Commission authority: Nothing in these provisions shall limit the right of the
Port Commission to waive the requirements of Resolution 3549 or these rules and
procedures.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

3.1    The Contractor is responsible for taking all reasonable measures to provide the
same or equivalent benefits to employees with spouses and employees with Domestic
Partners.

3.2    The Chief Executive Officer or his or her designee is responsible for:

3.2.1  Adopting administrative procedures establishing standards and procedures
to implement Equal Benefits Resolution 3549;

3.2.2  Receiving, reviewing and approving all appropriate waivers associated
with Resolution 3549;

3.2.3  Receive, investigate and resolve Equal Benefits complaints.

3.3    An aggrieved contractor may appeal a decision made by the Chief Executive
Officer or his or her designee. An appeal must be submitted in writing to the Chief
Executive Officer or his or her designee within ten working days of the decision to be
appealed. The Chief Executive Officer or his or her designee shall consider the appeal.
The Chief Executive Officer or his or her designee shall issue a decision in writing to the
contractor within twenty days of the submittal of the appeal that contains findings upon
which the decision was made.




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