The Washington Labor
Law Guide

Minimum wage is the lowest hourly rate that employers are legally obligated to pay employees. The federal minimum wage is a wage baseline, but different states, cities, and regions can adopt their own rates. 

As of 2024, the minimum wage is $16.28 per hour for most employees.

Cities that have higher minimum wage as of 2024:

• Bellingham: $17.28 per hour

• Burien: $16.28 per hour

• Everett: $16.28 per hour

• King County (unincorporated): $16.28 per hour

• Renton: $20.99 (500+ employees worldwide), $18.29 (15-499 employees)

• Seattle: 

  • $19.97 per hour (501+ employees or employers that operate franchise businesses with 500 or more employees nationwide)

  • App based drivers - $26.40

• Sea Tac: $19.71 per hour (covered hospitality and transportation workers only)

• Tukwila: $20.29 per hour for large employers and $19.29 per hour for mid-size employers

Starting January 1st, 2025, the minimum wage will be $16.66 for most employees.

Cities that have a higher minimum wage effective January 1st, 2025:

• Bellingham: $17.66

• Burian: $19.66 for large employers, $18.66 for midsize employers 

• King County: $20.29 

• Seattle: $20.76

• Sea Tac: $20.17 (hospitality and transportation industries)

• Renton - $18.90 for mid-size employers 

Cities that have a higher minimum wage effective July 1st, 2025:

• Everett: $20.24 for large employers 

• Renton:  $19.90 for mid-size employers

• Tukwila: $21.10 for mid-sized employers which is 21-499 full-time employees in King County

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Washington state labor laws do not include a separate minimum wage for tipped workers. Employers must pay at least the state minimum wage to tipped employees, and they cannot count tips as part of an employee’s hourly minimum wage.

Employee protection laws in Washington state require employers of all sizes to pay overtime if employees work more than 40 hours in a workweek. The state generally doesn’t require employers to pay overtime to employees who work more than eight hours in a day as long as their weekly work hours remain at or below 40.

Overtime pay must be at least 1.5 times the employee’s regular rate of pay. Overtime laws in Washington state don’t require double-time pay unless employees are working on specific public work projects. Most hourly and some salaried employees qualify for overtime.

Washington’s wage and hour laws generally require that employers provide nonexempt employees with a meal period of no less than 30 minutes when they work more than five consecutive hours. The meal period must begin between the second and fifth hours of the employee’s shift. If the employee works more than three hours beyond their scheduled shift, they must also receive an additional 30-minute meal period within five hours from the end of the first meal. 

Employers must pay employees for meal breaks if they remain on duty, have to remain on-call on the premises or work site, or have to end their meal period early to return to their work duties. Meal breaks are unpaid if the employee is free of all their duties for the entire break. 

In addition, employers must provide employees with a paid rest period of at least 10 minutes for every four hours worked. They cannot require employees to work more than three hours without a break, but some employers can offer shorter rest breaks as long as they total 10 minutes over four hours. Breaks must occur as close to the midpoint of the shift as possible.

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Vacation leave
Washington does not legally require private employers to provide leave or pay for vacations or bereavement. Employers can offer this benefit at their discretion. Workers on public projects may have different rights based on the state’s prevailing wage law.

Paid Sick Leave
As of 2016, private, public, and state employers must give employees at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours they work. Employers have the option to offer additional leave, but they must pay the same rate for an hour of sick leave as for a normal hour worked. If an employee doesn’t use all of their sick leave by the end of the year, the employer has to carry over any balance of 40 hours or less to the next year. 

This requirement includes full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees. However, some employees may be exempt, including but not limited to: 

• Doctors

• Lawyers

• Dentists 

• Other Exempt Executive, Administrative, or Professional Employees

• Outside Sales Reps

• Full Time Government Employees

• Casual Laborers in a Private Home

• Newspaper Vendors, Carriers, and Delivery People

Starting January 1, 2025, Washington employees can use their accrued paid sick leave for closure of the employee's child's school or place of care due to a declaration of emergency by the federal, state, or local government. The definition of “family member” for purposes of paid sick leave has also been expanded, and now includes: (1) a person who regularly resides in an employee's home with an expectation that they care for them, (2) a person who has a caring relationship with the employee, and (3) amendments that clarify the definitions of "child," "grandchild," "grandparent," and "spouse."

Holidays
Washington does not require public or private employers to offer premium pay or overtime pay for hours worked on holidays unless they exceed 40 hours for the week. The state also does not require employers to give employees time off for holidays. However, most state employees in Washington receive paid time off on major holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Memorial Day.

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Under child labor laws in Washington state, children between the ages of 14 and 18 can usually work limited hours compared to adults. Minors under the age of 14 must request permission from a superior court to work. Agricultural jobs are an exception as they allow 12- and 13-year-olds to work without court approval. 

All employers hiring minors must file a minor work permit. 

These are the permitted work hours for minors in non-agricultural jobs:

Hiring
Washington has hiring protection laws that prevent employers from refusing to hire employees due to discrimination on the basis of the following characteristics:

• Color

• Race

• Creed

• Sex

• National Origin

• Marital status

• Being over 40 years old

• Disability

• Gender identity 

• Sexual orientation 

• Status as an honorably discharged veteran

• Military status

• Use of a guide dog or other service animal 

• Retaliation 

Employers in Washington must report new employees to the New Hire Reporting program within 20 days of hiring them. This list covers what employee information to provide when reporting new hires: 

• Full name

• Address

• Social Security number

• Date of birth

• Date of hire

Firing
Washington is an “at-will” state, which means employees or employers may end the employment relationship without notice for any reason, provided it is not an unlawful reason such as discrimination or retaliation.

Washington as a whole does not have any state requirements related to predictable scheduling. Employers may change an employee’s schedule at any time without giving notice and can schedule mandatory overtime. 

However, the city of Seattle has a Secure Scheduling Ordinance for employees at retail and food service businesses with 500 or more employees worldwide. Under the ordinance, employers must provide employees with: 

• A good faith estimate of median work hours the employee can expect to work;

• A copy of the Secure Scheduling Poster, which informs employees about their rights;

• An opportunity to discuss schedule preferences for times and location of work;

• At least 10 hours of rest between a closing and opening shift or, if the employee agrees to it, 1.5 times the employee’s typical pay for the hours separated by less than 10 hours;

• A written work schedule 14 days in advance;

• Predictability pay for changes to the work schedule; and

• Additional hours to internal employees before hiring an external applicant, subcontractor, or temporary employee.

As is noted above, employers must generally pay predictability pay for employer requested changes to an employee’s schedule made after the schedule is posted. Employees must receive one hour of pay for hours added to a shift, or a change to the shift date or time. They must receive half of the hours not worked if they are sent home early from a shift, or if they are scheduled for an on-call shift and are not called in. 

This requirement doesn’t apply if the employee requests the schedule change, voluntarily swaps shifts with another employee, or is under disciplinary action. Changes that occur due to natural disasters or safety concerns are also exempt from the requirement.