Like federal law, Washington law requires that employees be paid at one and one half times their normal rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 in any given workweek of 168 hours (7 days). Those employees not covered by the state’s minimum wage law are also not covered by the state’s overtime provisions (see #2 below). In addition, the following employees who are covered by the state’s minimum wage law are not covered by the state’s overtime law:

• Employees who request compensation time instead of overtime pay
• Seamen (on any vessel)
• Seasonal employees of concessions and recreational establishments at agricultural fairs who do not work more than 14 days per year
• Employees employed as motion picture projectionists, provided that they are covered by a contract or collective bargaining agreement regulating their hours and overtime
• Certain truck and bus drivers
• Agricultural workers
• Employees engaged in commercial canning, freezing, or processing
• Employees involved in raising, harvesting, or processing oysters or any agricultural or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution for consumption
• Employees in any industry in which federal law provides for an overtime payment based on a work week other than forty hours; those employees are covered under federal law by incorporation of state law, even if federal law would not otherwise apply to them for technical reasons.
• Certain airline employees
• Employees of retail or service establishment paid on commission if their regular rate of pay is one and one half times the minimum wage and more than half of their compensation in a given month comes from commissions on goods or services
• Commissioned salespeople primarily engaged in the business of selling automobiles, trucks, recreational vessels, recreational vessel trailers, recreational vehicle trailers, recreational campers, manufactured housing, or farm implements to ultimate purchasers (with some exceptions based on rate of pay)

Washington’s minimum wage for tipped and non-tipped employees is $16.28 per hour, which is higher than the federal minimum wage is of $7.25. 

Washington is one of the few states that doesn’t allow employers to take a tip credit, meaning that employers must pay all employees at least the state minimum wage, regardless of how much they earn in tips. See the Washington website for more information.

Unlike federal law, Washington law requires employers to provide rest breaks to employees. Workers must be allowed a paid rest break of at least 10 minutes for each 4 hours worked; that rest period must be allowed no later than the end of the third hour of the shift. If a worker works more than five hours in one shift, he or she must be allowed at least a 30-minute meal period; the meal period must take place at least two hours into the shift and no later than five hours after the beginning of the shift. The meal break does not have to be paid if the worker is free from all duties during the meal period. 

See the Washington Department of Labor for information on how to file a claim.

Do not delay in contacting the Department to file a complaint. There are strict time limits in which charges of wage-and-hour violations must be filed. The statute of limitations for cases regarding minimum wage, overtime, and oral contracts is three years (six years for written contracts), and the Department must investigate your claim and give notice to the employer. If you file your claim after the statute of limitations has run or just before it expires, the Department will be unable to assist you. As you might have other legal claims with shorter deadlines, do not wait to file your claim. You may wish to consult with an attorney prior to filing your claim, if possible. Yet if you are unable to find an attorney who will assist you, it is not necessary to have an attorney to file your claim with the district and federal administrative agencies.

If your employer has not paid you overtime wages or the minimum wage, you can bring a private lawsuit in court instead of filing a complaint with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industry. The court may award you the wages you are owed and may require your employer to pay your litigation costs and attorneys’ fees. The statue of limitations for such a claim is three years. If your employer owes you wages not in connection with overtime or the minimum wage, you can bring an action for breach of contract. If the contract was oral, the statute of limitations is three years; if it is written, the statute of limitations is six years. If you recover more than what your employer admits you are owed, the court will require your employer to pay your litigation costs and your attorneys’ fees.