Washington Labor Laws

In the US, regulations outlined by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) manage the time spent by employees in the workplace, safeguarding their rights and guaranteeing fair pay for their efforts. These laws act as directives for employers, keeping them in check, and minimizing any forms of abuse or exploitation.

Time management and labor regulations are outlined by both federal and state laws in Washington. However, where both laws contradict, the stricter policy applies. Employes in Washington are offered greater minimum wage, overtime pay , and break provisions under state law, which are summarized as follows: 

Employers who contravene federal or state time management laws face severe legal ramifications, including fines, back pay, and damages. If workers feel that their employer has violated their rights, they can file a worker’s rights complaint with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries for investigation and legal action.

Under the Washington State Law Against Discrimination, employers are not allowed to discriminate against job candidates or working employees based on factors such as:

Additionally, the Washington Equal Pay and Opportunities Act aims to combat gender pay gaps by prohibiting employers from paying different salaries to employees performing the same job solely based on gender.

While workers have the option to reveal their pay and earnings history after being offered employment, it is illegal for an employer to ask for it during the hiring process or to demand that an applicant’s previous wages meet a certain standard. 

Washington doesn’t have a ‘right-to-work’ law, meaning labor union membership and fee payment can be a condition of employment. 

Washington also follows the at-will employment policy, which means that employers and employees have the right to terminate a contract of employment without a specific reason, and without facing legal consequences. However, employees have the right to request their reason for termination with a formal written request. 

After employee termination, the employer must pay final wages before or on the worker’s next scheduled payday.

Some regulations that affect employment in Washington include:

• Health Insurance Continuation Laws: The federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) provides employees the right to continue their group health benefits for 12 to 36 months following both voluntary and involuntary job loss. In Washington state, COBRA applies to companies with over 20 employees. There are no state-specific health insurance continuation plans for employees in Washington. 
• Workplace Safety Laws: Workplace health and safety in Washington is primarily regulated by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The OSH Act of 1970 seeks to assist employers in maintaining safe workplaces and preventing work-related injuries that can arise from substandard health protocols. On a state level, the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Administration (WISHA) imposes additional restrictions on employers to provide a workplace safe from hazards, prohibits drugs and alcohol at the workplace, and sets adequate standards for handling chemical and biological agents. WISHA also protects whistleblowing employees from retaliation and termination.
• Background Check Laws: Washington’s ban-the-box law prohibits public and private employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s conviction history during the employment process. Furthermore, employers cannot use job advertisements that explicitly discourage applicants with criminal histories from applying. Employers can ask for an employee’s record once an employment offer has been extended for recordkeeping. However, certain occupations, such as jobs with children or vulnerable individuals, financial institutions, or law enforcement agencies can require employers to request an employee’s conviction history before confirming employment.   
• Whistleblower Protection Law: Washington’s Whistleblower Program encourages state employees to report criminal activities in their workplace without fear of retaliation. These policies ensure that no employee will be harassed, threatened, or fired for refusing to partake in illegal activities, violating federal or state laws, reporting workplace misconduct, or participating in an investigation concerning workplace violations.
• Social Media Usage Laws: State law prohibits employers from asking employees for their social media account details, including usernames, passwords, and authentication information except for legal investigations. Furthermore, employers cannot require employees to add or delete specific contacts from their social media accounts. 

A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that must be paid to an employee for performing their job in a specific time period. This amount may not be negotiated or further reduced by collective bargaining agreements or negotiation between employer and employee. 

The minimum wage in Washington, as of January 1, 2025, is $16.66 per hour.

Local Wages in Washington

Certain localities in Washington have higher minimum wage requirements. For 2025, these rates are as follows:

State law does not clearly define the criteria that categorize an employee as a tipped employee. Nonetheless, employers in Washington are not allowed to take tip credit. 

Starting January 1, 2025, tipped employees in Washington must be paid at least the state’s full minimum wage i.e. $16.66 per hour. However, this wage rate can increase based on the locality the tipped worker is employed in.

Federal and state law collectively list the following occupations exempt from minimum wage requirements. 

• Executives
• Administrators, learned and creative professionals, computer employees
• Highly compensated employees
• Outside salespeople
• Apprentices (with certain conditions)
• Minors aged 14 and 15 
• On-the-job learners who can earn 85% of the state’s minimum wage i.e. $14.161 per hour 
• Student learners and workers, who can earn 75% of the state minimum wage i.e. $12.495 per hour
• Workers exempt under the Washington Minimum Wage Act

As of July 31, 2023, state law has discontinued subminimum wage requirements for disabled workers. Such employees are now entitled to the state’s minimum wage i.e. $16.66 per hour. 

Employees in Washington must be paid on a regular payday scheduled at least once a month. An employee’s pay includes wages for hours worked in a specific period and it may also cover compensation for attending meetings, travel time, training, on-call duties, or preparing for work, such as donning protective gear or a uniform.

Employers may use any method of wage payment as long as no unnecessary costs are created for the employee to access their pay.

Employees in Washington who work more than 40 hours a week are entitled to overtime pay of at least 1.5 times their regular hourly wage. For minimum wage earners, this amount stands at $24.99 per hour in 2025. 

Beginning January 1, 2024, agricultural and dairy workers in the state are also entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked beyond 40 in a week. 

Following federal regulations, only public employees can request to be given compensatory time off or ‘comp time’ instead of overtime pay. Workers can accrue 1.5 hours of comp time for each hour worked as overtime.

According to Washington’s overtime laws, an employee’s exemption status depends on their employer’s size and their salary level.

Starting January 1, 2025, employees at small businesses (those with 1 to 50 employees) are exempt from overtime pay if their salary exceeds $1,332.80 per week ($69,305.60 annually). Employees at larger businesses (51 or more employees) qualify for exemption if they earn more than $1,499.40 per week ($77,968.80 annually). This exemption generally applies to salaried white-collar employees in bona fide executive, administrative, or professional roles.

Other occupations exempt from receiving overtime pay in the state include:

• Highly compensated employees making $151,164 or more per year
• Computer professionals earning at least $58.31 an hour
• Outside salespeople
• Forest protection and fire prevention workers
• Publicly elected officers of the state
• Seasonal employees who work no more than 14 days in a year
• Air carrier workers and seamen
• Casual labor 

Washington State also excludes minors and certain employees who don’t meet the definition of “an employee” as outlined in the Washington Minimum Wage Act.   

Except minors and agricultural workers, all employees in Washington must be provided rest breaks that last at least ten minutes for every four hours of consecutive work. 

These rest breaks should ideally be scheduled in the middle of every four-hour work period. Employers may also allow employees to take mini-breaks i.e., very short periods spread over four hours, totaling up to ten minutes. Employees in Washington cannot waive rest breaks. 

For healthcare workers, rest periods must be scheduled and undisturbed, unless the worker’s absence leads to serious consequences for a patient. If a rest period is interrupted, it must be made up for with an additional ten minutes of rest break as soon as possible. 

Rest breaks are paid in Washington and are also included in calculations for paid sick leave as well as overtime. For this reason, all breaks taken by an employee must be promptly recorded by an employer for accuracy and compliance with the law.

Employers in Washington are required to provide their employees with a meal break lasting at least 30 minutes if they work for more than five hours in a shift. The meal break should be scheduled between the second and fifth hour of the shift.  

If an employee’s shift extends at least three hours over their regular shift, they may be entitled to a second 30-minute meal break. This meal period must be scheduled within five hours of the end of the first meal period.

However, note that these meal breaks are not paid for unless an employee is required to carry out their job duties throughout the meal break, stay on-call, or if the nature of the job causes an interruption during the meal break. Furthermore, meal breaks can be waived with mutual agreement between the employer and the employee.

Washington’s workplace pregnancy accommodation laws require employers with 15 or more employees to provide breastfeeding employees with reasonably timed breaks throughout the workday to express milk. Breaks lasting more than ten minutes are not paid. 

Employers are also required to provide facilities at the workplace that can store breast milk (if required), as well as a non-toilet, private room, free from intrusion to express milk. These provisions must be available for two years after the birth of a child. 

As per Washington’s laws, employers must allocate a specified amount of leave time for their workers, including:

• Family and Medical Leave: Washington State’s Paid Family and Medical Leave allows employees to take paid leave for qualifying personal and medical reasons, including caring for their own or a family member’s serious illness, bonding with a new-born or adopted child, or spending time with a family member discharged from military duty. Eligible employees must’ve worked at least 820 hours in a 12-month period, which is marked by the first day 15 months prior to when an employee applies for this benefit. Employees taking paid leave may also have job protection if they work for an employer who has employed more than 50 workers in the state, as well as if the employee has worked more than 1,250 hours within one year. Job restoration can be denied under certain circumstances. Note that this leave is different from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which offers 12 weeks of unpaid leave for qualifying reasons. Employees can choose to combine both benefits if needed.  
• Sick Leave: Washington’s Paid Sick Leave allows most employees to earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. Employers can also choose to offer more hours of leave. The sick leave accrues at the beginning of the calendar year (January 1). Unused paid leave of 40 hours or less can be carried over to the next year. Employees are permitted to use this leave for their own physical or mental health problems and those of a family member. They can also use the leave if their workplace or child’s school closes due to a health reason or if they need to take leave under the Washington Domestic Violence Leave Act (DVLA).
• Jury Duty Leave: According to Washington labor law, employers are mandated to provide employees with unpaid time off to attend jury duty, though employees may need to validate their absence with a jury summons. Employees attending jury duty can not be threatened, coerced, harassed, or denied any workplace opportunities for exercising this right. 
• Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Leave: Employees who have experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, or stalking are eligible to take unpaid time off from work to seek legal and medical help, contact social services, develop a safety plan, and relocate. This leave also applies to qualifying family members of the employee. The employee can choose to use paid sick leave, leave without pay, or paid time off for this purpose instead. Employers are prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against workers who are victims of assault or violence. 
• Military Leave: The Washington Military Family Leave Act allows employees who have a spouse in the Armed Forces or National Guard to take up to 15 days of job-protected leave if their partner has been called on duty during a military conflict. To be eligible, an employee must work at least 20 hours per week. Employees can also choose to use other leave benefits for this purpose. 
• Bereavement Leave: In Washington State, every employee is allowed three days of paid leave for bereavement. Employers may require verification of the employee’s relation to the individual who has passed away. Employees can also take leave for a shorter period of time, if required, or can request to use other leave benefits for bereavement. 
• Volunteer Leave: Employees who are part of emergency personnel, including voluntary firefighters, reserve guards, and officers of the Civil Air Patrol can take leave to tend to an emergency. Only employers with 20 or more employees are required to provide this benefit.

The following public holidays will be observed in Washington for the year 2025: 

Any individual under the age of 18 is considered a minor in Washington and is protected by the state’s child labor policies. 

Although the minimum age of employment in Washington is 14, minors under the age of 14 can be employed in theatre and as newspaper carriers, casual laborers, wreath makers, unpaid volunteers for charities and non-profit organizations, or as workers on a family-owned farm. Minors aged 12 and 13 can also work on farms to hand-harvest berries, bulbs, spinach, and cucumbers only.

Work Permits for Minors in Washington

All employers are required to secure a minor work permit for every workplace where they employ one or more minors. To employ a minor under the age of 14, employees must also obtain superior court approval, a parental or school authorization form, and a document with the minor’s proof of age.

Work hours for minors in Washington vary based on their age, school hours and the nature of their job. Generally, minors cannot work during school hours and more than six days in a standard work week.

Minors under the age of 14 can only be employed with court approval. However, once employed, their work schedules follow the standard set for minors aged 14 and 15. Additional work-hour regulations for minors in the state are as follows:

When School is in Session

• For minors aged 14 and 15:  They can work up to three hours daily on school days and eight hours on Saturday and Sunday, with work hours scheduled only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Weekly work hours must not exceed 16. 
• For minors aged 16 and 17: They can work up to four hours on school days and eight hours on Saturday and Sunday. Weekly work hours cannot exceed 48. Work hours may only be scheduled between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. However, these hours can be extended until midnight on weekends or on a day before a school holiday. 

During Summer Break 

• For minors aged 14 and 15:  They can work up to eight hours daily with work hours scheduled only between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Work hours may be extended until 9 p.m. from June 1st to Labor Day. Weekly work hours may not exceed 40. 
• For minors aged 16 and 17: They can work up to eight hours daily, with weekly work hours not exceeding 48. Work hours may only be scheduled between 5 a.m. and midnight. 

 Employers can request a variance in Washington to seek an exception to these work-hour regulations.

Breaks for Minors in Washington

Rest breaks for minors in Washington are paid. Minors under 16 must be given a ten-minute rest break for every two hours of work. They must also be provided with an uninterrupted meal break after four hours of work. This meal break must be given separately from the minor’s rest break. 

Minors aged 16 and 17 must be provided a ten-minute rest break after four hours of work. If they work more than five hours in a workday, they are entitled to an uninterrupted 30-minute meal break. 

In the state of Washington, there are several jobs and tasks that minors are not allowed to perform in any industry. These include:

Learn more with the state’s comprehensive guide to prohibited jobs for minors in Washington.