LABOR ‑- MINIMUM WAGE ‑- HOTELS ‑- RESTAURANTS ‑- MINIMUM WAGE FOR HOTEL AND RESTAURANT EMPLOYEES In the case of a hotel or restaurant that is subject to both the Washington minimum wage act and the federal fair labor standards act, that hotel or restaurant, as an employer, is required to pay its eligible employees at least the $1.80 per hour minimum wage now required by RCW 49.46.020 even though a lesser minimum hourly wage could be paid under the federal act because of the credits for tips, board and lodging that are allowed under that act.

APPLICABILITY OF MINIMUM WAGE LAW TO VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION TRAINEES When an industrially-injured worker continues to receive temporary total disability compensation from the Department of Labor and Industries while participating in an approved vocational rehabilitation plan consisting of on-the‑job training and there is no payment of wages by the training employer to the worker, court decisions support the proposition that state or federal minimum wage laws generally will not be applicable; nevertheless, if sufficient other indicia of an employer-employee relationship are present a court could still find an on-the‑job trainee to have crossed the line to becoming an employee for minimum wage law purposes.

Annual Adjustment Of Minimum Wage Following Decrease In Cost Of Living

Initiative 688 requires the Department of Labor and Industries to hold the minimum wage steady in years following a decline in the cost of living, until the cost of living returns to its previous peak.  Thereafter, the Department of Labor and Industries is required to increase the minimum wage as the cost of living increases, but the law does not permit the minimum wage to decrease when the cost of living declines.