Other LanguagesAs a worker, Washington law protects you from discrimination, wage theft, retaliation, and other illegal practices in the workplace. Learn about your rights at work by navigating to one of the sections below.
The Right to be Paid for the Work You Do
The Right to Paid Sick Leave
The Right to not be Discriminated Against in the Workplace
The Right to Workplace Protections, Regardless of Your Immigration Status
The Right to Talk to Your Coworkers About Your Wages and Organize
The Right to Safe Working Conditions
Criminal History in Job Applications
The Right to be Free From Retaliation
The Right to Seek Work Freely
What Can You Do if Someone Violates Your Workplace Rights?
The Right to be Paid for the Work You Do
An employer must pay you the state minimum wage. Washington’s Minimum Wage Act sets a minimum rate of pay for each hour you work, and is adjusted yearly based on the cost-of-living. See the current statewide minimum wage.
Hours worked includes all work performed, including:
- opening and closing a business
- required trainings
- wait time
- on-call time
- time for putting on uniforms and personal protective equipment, and
- work-related meetings.
It does not matter if you are legally authorized to work or undocumented—if your employer lets you do work for them, you have the right to the minimum wage.
Some cities and counties set the minimum wage higher, including Seattle, unincorporated King County, Everett, Burien, Renton, SeaTac, Tukwila, and Bellingham.
If your employer has not paid you the minimum wage guaranteed by either state, county, city, or local ordinances, you may choose to file a workplace rights complaint with Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries regarding:
- wages, including minimum wage and overtime,
- tips and service charges, or
- paid sick leave.
From <https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/minimum-wage/>
You may also choose to submit a complaint to the following places:
- If you believe you have experienced wage and hour violations anywhere in the state, you can reach out to the Fair Work Center.
- The Seattle University Workers’ Rights Clinic offers free legal consultations between September 1 and April 1 to workers who earn less than $70,000 per year.
- If you are a low wage worker who has experienced wage theft, you can contact Washington Wage Claim Project.
- If you work in Seattle, you also have the right to file a workplace rights complaint with Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards.
- If you work in Tukwila, you can file a file a complaint with the Tukwila City Attorney.
- If you work in SeaTac for a Hospitality or Transportation Industry Employer, you can file a complaint with the City of SeaTac.
The Right to Paid Sick Leave
Under Washington’s paid sick leave law, your employer must provide you with paid sick leave. You may begin using paid sick leave 90 calendar days after your first day of work with your employer. At minimum, employees earn one hour of sick leave for every 40 hours worked. If you do not use all of your paid sick leave hours in a year, you may carry over 40 hours or less from year to year. Even if you are a part time employee, you can still earn sick leave. Your employer must pay your sick leave at the same hourly rate you earn working.
Your paid sick leave can be used when you are not feeling well enough to work, or if you need a medical diagnosis, or preventative care appointments. It can also be used if a family member needs care for a heath condition, or for work absences that qualify for leave under Washington’s Domestic Violence Leave Act. You are able to use sick leave to prepare for, or participate in, a judicial or administrative immigration proceeding for you or a family member, as well.
If your employer has not provided you paid sick leave, you may choose to file a workplace rights complaint with Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries regarding:
- Wages, including minimum wage and overtime,
- Tips and service charges, or
- Paid sick leave.
From <https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/minimum-wage/>
The Right to not be Discriminated Against in the Workplace
Discrimination topics:
You have a right to not be discriminated against in the workplace. Employment discrimination is prohibited by federal law, state law, and many local laws. Each law is a little different, and some laws may apply to your situation, while others may not. For example, some employers may be subject to different rules based on the employer’s size or the type of business.
Federal Law
Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and sex (which includes sexual harassment, gender harassment, and discrimination against pregnant women). Other federal laws prohibit discrimination based on disability, age, equal pay, and pregnancy.
State Law
Our state’s bedrock anti-discrimination law is the Washington Law Against Discrimination (chapter 49.60 RCW). It is broader than federal law and prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, creed (religion), national origin, citizenship or immigration status, sex, marital status, age (40+), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran or military status, the presence of a physical, mental, or sensory disability (including HIV/hepatitis C), or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability.
Types of Prohibited Discrimination
Race, Color, National Origin, Immigration or Citizenship Status Discrimination
Employers cannot discriminate against you on the basis of your race, color, national origin, or immigration or citizenship status.
Your employer cannot refuse to hire you, pay you less, cut your hours or otherwise unfavorably alter your working conditions on the basis of your race, color, national origin, or immigration or citizenship status, though employers can check to make sure you are legally permitted to work in the U.S.
Your employer also cannot establish policies that have a disproportionately negative effect on workers of a particular race, color, national origin, or immigration or citizenship status unless the employer can prove that the policy is necessary for the business to operate.
Discrimination Example [click to expand/contract]
The AG's’s office sued Ostrom Mushroom Farm after learning of Ostrom’s discrimination against local workers and female workers over male foreign guest workers hired through the H-2A Temporary Agricultural Program. Ostrom had to pay $3.4 million in 2023 to settle the case.
Religious Discrimination
Employers cannot discriminate against you or harass you based on your religious beliefs. You are protected from discrimination if you belong to a traditional organized religion such as Christianity, Islam, or Judaism, as well as if you sincerely hold religious beliefs that may be less common. Harassment can include offensive comments about your religious beliefs or practices, including your religious attire, which create a negative environment where it is difficult to do your job.
Your employer cannot require you to disclose your religious affiliation or beliefs unless it is for the purpose of providing a religious accommodation. Likewise, your employer may not require you to disclose the religious affiliation or beliefs of another employee unless their consent has been given and they are aware of the reasons for the disclosure.
Your employer may be required to reasonably accommodate your religious beliefs or practices. This means that your employer may have to make adjustments to the work environment to allow you to practice your religion unless doing so would unduly burden your employer’s ability to operate the business. Examples of common religious accommodations include: flexible schedules, voluntary shift exchanges, job reassignment, and modifications to the dress code to accommodate religious attire.
Disability Discrimination
Employers cannot discriminate against you because of a disability as long as you can perform the essential functions of your job. The federal Americans with Disability Act and the Washington Law Against Discrimination prohibit disability discrimination in the workplace. In general, a disability is a physical or mental impairment. Our state law definition of disability is broader than the federal law and includes a sensory, mental, or physical impairment that is medically diagnosable, including some temporary conditions.
State and federal laws also have restrictions on employers considering family member medical or genetic information in hiring or employment decisions and protect against discrimination based on an employee’s relationship (including as a caregiver) with a person with a disability.
Employers may be required to make reasonable accommodations to workplace rules or conditions to allow an employee with a disability to do their job. Once an employer is on notice of an employee’s disability, the employer must assist the employee through an interactive process to determine and identify reasonable accommodations. There is no “one size fits all” definition of reasonable accommodations. Rather, they are personalized to the employee with the disability. Both the employee and the employer have a duty to engage in an interactive process to find reasonable accommodations.
Examples of reasonable accommodations may include modifying work stations, telephone amplifiers, wheelchair access, transferring an employee to lighter-duty work, or leave from work when other reasonable accommodations are unavailable. Reasonable accommodations must be made for persons with disabilities unless the accommodation would unduly burden the employer’s ability to operate the business.
Sex Discrimination
Your employer cannot discriminate against you or treat you less favorably because of your sex or gender. For example, employers cannot employ only women, pay male employees more than female employees for the same work, or fire an employee for being transgender. Your employer cannot make policies that negatively affect the members of one gender unless they can prove that the policy is necessary for the business to operate.
Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is a form of illegal sex discrimination. There are two types of sexual harassment: Hostile Work Environment and Quid Pro Quo.
Hostile Work Environment
This kind of discrimination may include unwelcome, sexually suggestive comments or jokes; unwelcome and repeated requests for dates; offensive gestures; inappropriate touching or display of pornographic materials. To meet the legal definition of “hostile work environment,” the unwelcome behavior must be frequent or severe enough to interfere with your ability to perform your job. The behavior must be directed at you because of your gender (woman, man, transgender, non-binary, etc.).
The harasser may be your employer, supervisor or manager, colleague, vendor, or customer. If the harasser is a coworker, vendor, or customer, it is important to report it to your supervisor. If the harasser is your supervisor, report it to your supervisor’s boss or to Human Resources.
Quid Pro Quo
This type of discrimination occurs when a supervisor or manager asks for sexual favors from you in return for employment benefits such as promotion, salary increase, career development opportunities, special projects or other benefits related to your job.
Employers have a duty to stop sexual harassment. When an employer has notice that harassment may be occurring, they must take prompt action to investigate and remedy any harassment at their workplace. Many employers have specific sexual harassment policies intended to prohibit and address sexual harassment. These policies typically tell workers where to report inappropriate sexual behavior.
Print out the sexual harassment guide for employees in English and Spanish.
Sexual Harassment Example [click to expand/contract]
In 2023, the AG’s office settled a lawsuit against Greenridge Farms and Baker Produce over multiple allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment of female farmworkers by one of the companies’ supervisors. During the AG’s investigation of the companies, four women who worked at the companies came forward with allegations ranging from rape to sexual harassment.
As part of the settlement, the companies were required to pay restitution to the four women, were barred from hiring the offending supervisor, and were required to institute new anti-discrimination and sexual harassment policies that encourage employees to come forward with complaints.
Age Discrimination
Employers or prospective employers cannot treat you less favorably than younger employees under 40. Federal and state law prohibit age discrimination in decisions about hiring, firing, layoffs, pay, benefits, promotions, demotions, performance reviews, or any other condition of employment for employees who are 40 years of age or over.
Under these laws, an employer generally cannot consider age as a preferred job qualification, set age limits for training programs, require you to retire at a certain age, or otherwise treat you differently because of your age.
Similarly, your employer cannot establish policies that have a disproportionate, negative effect on older workers unless the employer can prove that the policy is based on a reasonable factor other than age. These laws require that your employer provide the same rules and opportunities to employees 40 and over that apply to employees under 40.
Pregnant Workers Have Specific Rights
Derechos de ajustes laborales para mujeres embarazadas
Your employer cannot discriminate against you because you are pregnant or may decide to have a baby, and your employer must provide you with reasonable pregnancy accommodations both during pregnancy and after the birth of the baby, such as the need to breastfeed or express milk.
If your employer has 15 or more employees, they must accommodate your pregnancy and pregnancy-related health conditions, including the need to express breast milk by:
- Providing more frequent, longer, or flexible restroom breaks;
- Modifying a no food or drink policy;
- Seating or allowing the employee to sit more frequently if their job requires them to stand;
- Refraining from lifting more than 17 pounds.
Your employer must also provide the below pregnancy accommodations unless they can prove that doing so would constitute an “undue hardship:”
- Job restructuring, part-time or modified work schedules, reassignment to a vacant position, or acquiring or modifying equipment, devices, or an employee’s work station;
- Temporary transfer to a less strenuous or less hazardous position;
- Assistance with manual labor and lifting limits that are less than seventeen pounds;
- Scheduling flexibility for prenatal visits;
- Reasonable break time for an employee to express breast milk for two years after the child’s birth each time the employee has need to express the milk;
- A private location, other than a bathroom, if such a location exists at the place of business or worksite, which may be used by the employee to express breast milk. If the business location does not have a space for the employee to express milk, the employer must work with the employee to identify a convenient location and work schedule to accommodate their needs; and
- Any further pregnancy accommodation an employee may request, and to which an employer must give reasonable consideration in consultation with information provided on pregnancy accommodation by the Department of Labor and Industries or the attending health care provider of the employee.
Your employer may request that you provide written certification from a treating healthcare professional regarding the need for some of these reasonable accommodations, but not all. Your employer cannot request certification regarding the need for limits on lifting more than 17 pounds, flexible restroom breaks, a modified food or drink policy, the need for seating, or for break time and a private location for expressing breastmilk.
Your employer cannot:
- Fail or refuse a reasonable pregnancy accommodation that does not impose an “undue hardship;”
- Retaliate against an employee who requests, declines, or uses a reasonable pregnancy accommodation;
- Deny employment opportunities to an otherwise qualified employee because of their need for accommodation; or
- Require an employee to take leave if another reasonable accommodation could be provided.
Additionally, pregnant employees with a pregnancy-related disability may have rights in addition to those listed here.
Pregnancy Discrimination Example [click to expand/contract]
In 2023, the AG’s Office sued O’Reilly Auto Parts for systemic discrimination and retaliation against its pregnant employees by refusing pregnant workers reasonable workplace accommodations, such as the ability to sit or rest, limit how much they lift or handle hazardous materials, allow flexibility for restroom breaks, and pump breastmilk for their newborn babies after returning to work postpartum. O’Reilly Auto Parts had to pay $5.6 million as part of a consent decree to settle the case.
The AGO’s Civil Rights Division accepts complaints from employees whose pregnancy accommodation rights may have been violated at pregnancy@atg.wa.gov, (833) 389-2427, or online.
What can you do if someone violates your rights or discriminates against you?
- Address the issue with your employer through internal policies and procedures.
- File a complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission here. You must file an employment discrimination complaint within six months from the date that the discriminatory action happened. The Human Rights Commission has no jurisdiction over employers with fewer than eight employees, Native American tribes, the federal government, or certain religious schools or employers. You can also contact the Human Rights Commission by phone at (800) 233-3247 or (360) 753-6770.
- You can file a complaint here.
- If your pay or career advancement opportunities are based on your status in a protected class, you may file an Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA) complaint form with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). More information about EPOA and L&I’s enforcement process is available here or by calling (866) 669-4000.
- Consult a lawyer. You always have the right to consult a lawyer to talk about your situation, including the possibility of pursuing a private lawsuit to address the discrimination. All lawyers licensed to practice in Washington State are included in the Washington State Bar Association’s Legal Directory, which can be searched here.
- WSBA has additional resources to help you to connect with and find an attorney or get other legal information here.
The Right to Workplace Protections, Regardless of Your Immigration Status
Your employer is in no way allowed to discriminate against you or threaten you based on you or your family’s perceived immigration status. They cannot use your immigration status as a way to stop you from defending your rights in the workplace or advocating for better working conditions. This can include threats to audit employment authorization paperwork or call immigration enforcement in retaliation for exercising your rights.
If you are being threatened based on your immigration status, you should file a complaint with the Department of Labor and Industries here.
Additionally, in 2026, Washington passed the Immigrant Worker Protection Act. This law requires employers to tell you when a federal agency conducts an I-9 audit, or seeks to inspect the employer’s I-9 Employment Verification Forms and other employment related documents. Your employer must tell you within five business days of receiving the federal agency’s inspection notice in whatever manner the employer typically communicates with you. Your employer must also give you a copy of the federal agency’s inspection notice. The employer’s notice must also be posted in the workplace and translated into the five most commonly used languages in Washington.
If you are an affected employee, and you are identified by the I-9 inspection to lack work authorization or that your work authorization forms have deficiencies, your employer is required to notify you within five business days of receiving the federal agency’s inspection results. If the inspection results give the opportunity to correct deficiencies, your employer must meet with you to discuss them.
Along with protections outlined in the Immigrant Worker Protection Act, you also have the ability to use your paid sick leave time to attend or participate in immigration court proceedings as needed.
The Right to Talk to Your Coworkers About Your Wages and Organize
You have the right to talk to your coworkers about your wages, the right to unionize, and the right to collectively bargain with your employer.
You, as a worker in Washington state, have the ability to talk about your wages with other employees. Your employer cannot make you sign an agreement that prohibits you from talking about wages—except if you have access to others’ wage information as part of your job duties, like if you work in human resources.
Most private sector workers also have the right to join together with coworkers and take action to better their work conditions or to increase their wages. Under the National Labor Relations Act, most private sector workers have the right to talk about a union before or after work and during breaks and encourage your coworkers to form a union. It is unlawful for the employer to threaten to fire you for supporting the union, to treat you worse when it comes to working conditions because you support the union, or make threats or promises related to your union activity.
Your employer cannot punish you or otherwise force you to attend a meeting where they try to convince you not to join a union.
Who is not covered by The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)?
The National Labor Relations Act does not apply to farmworkers, domestic workers, public sector workers, and supervisors or managers who can hire or fire people.
However, other laws protect public sector workers’ right to organize. For example, the Federal Labor Relations Authority has jurisdiction over labor relations for federal workers.
The Public Employment Relations Commission has jurisdiction over labor relations for state and local workers. More information, including how to file a complaint, is available here.
The Right to Safe Working Conditions
Your employer is required to protect you from dangers and hazards you may encounter while at work. They also must inform you about the danger and provide safety training.
If you have been put in danger in the workplace you can report your employer to L&I.
For more information about workplace safety requirement, here is a guide: A Guide to Workplace Safety and Health in Washington State.
Criminal History in Job Applications
Under the Washington Fair Chance Act, chapter 49.94 RCW, employers cannot consider or ask for criminal history information in the job application process prior to determining whether an applicant is otherwise qualified for the job.
Job Advertisements: Employers may not advertise job openings in a way that excludes people with criminal records from applying. A job announcement cannot state “no felons,” “no criminal backgrounds,” or communicate a similar message.
Job Applications: Job applications may not include any question seeking information about an applicant’s criminal record.
Hiring Process: Until there is an initial determination that an applicant is otherwise qualified for the position, employers may not:
- Inquire verbally or in writing about an applicant’s criminal record;
- Receive information through a criminal history background check;
- Otherwise obtain information about an applicant’s criminal record; or
- Implement policies or practices that automatically or categorically exclude job applicants with a criminal record, including rejecting applicants for failure to disclose a criminal record.
The Fair Chance Act does not apply to certain employers, such as those permitted or required by law to gather criminal record information for employment purposes. For example, the Fair Chance Act does not apply to law enforcement agencies or to employers hiring for jobs with unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults.
What can you do if someone violates your rights?
The AGO’s Civil Rights Division accepts complaints about violations of the Fair Chance Act at fairchancejobs@atg.wa.gov, (833) 660-4877, or online here.
The Right to be Free From Retaliation
Your employer cannot fire or retaliate against you for exercising your protected rights in the workplace. This includes raising concerns about workplace safety, advocating for better working conditions and higher pay, or filing a workplace complaint with a labor enforcement agency (like the Department of Labor and Industries or the AG’s Office).
Acts of retaliation can include firing or demoting you, reducing your hours, threatening you based on your immigration status, or subjecting you to disciplinary action. Your employer is legally prohibited from doing any of these actions if it is in response to you exercising your rights or filing a complaint.
You can file a retaliation complaint with the Department of Labor and Industries here.
The Right to Seek Work Freely
Non-compete clauses in employment agreements prevent employees from one business from leaving and working for or starting a competing business.
By eliminating competition for labor, an employer has reduced incentives to compete to retain its own employees; competition that would otherwise result in the employer providing market wages, better working conditions, or promotional opportunities. Non-competes also harm competition by depriving businesses, who were not a party to the non-compete agreements, the opportunity to hire available, qualified workers.
Starting in June 30, 2027, Washington will prohibit nearly all non-compete agreements between companies and their employees illegal, regardless of earnings thresholds. If your employer has made you sign a non-compete contract it is likely unenforceable in the State of Washington.
Workers wishing to report violations of Washington’s non-compete law may reach out to the AGO’s Antitrust Division at monopoly@atg.wa.gov.
What Can You Do if Someone Violates Your Workplace Rights?
- Address the issue with your employer through internal policies and procedures.
- You can file a civil rights complaint with the AG’s office here.
- If your employer has not paid you the minimum wage guaranteed by either state, county, city, or local ordinances, you may choose to file a workplace rights complaint with Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries regarding wages, including minimum wage and overtime, tips and service charges, or paid sick leave.
- If your pay or career advancement opportunities are based on your status in a protected class, you may file an Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA) complaint form with the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). More information about EPOA and L&I’s enforcement process is available here or by calling (866) 669-4000.
- You may also choose to file a complaint with the Washington State Human Rights Commission here. You must file an employment discrimination complaint within six months from the date that the discriminatory action happened. The Human Rights Commission has no jurisdiction over employers with fewer than eight employees, Native American tribes, the federal government, or certain religious schools or employers. You can also contact the Human Rights Commission by phone at (800) 233-3247 or (360) 753-6770.
- If you are being threatened based on your immigration status, you should file a complaint with the Department of Labor and Industries here.
- If you have been put in danger in the workplace you can report your employer to L&I.
- The AGO’s Civil Rights Division accepts complaints about violations of the Fair Chance Act at fairchancejobs@atg.wa.gov, (833) 660-4877, or online here.
- You can file a retaliation complaint with the Department of Labor and Industries here.
- Workers wishing to report violations of Washington’s non-compete law may reach out to the AGO’s Antitrust Division at monopoly@atg.wa.gov.
- Consult a lawyer. You always have the right to consult a lawyer to talk about your situation, including the possibility of pursuing a private lawsuit to address the situation. All lawyers licensed to practice in Washington State are included in the Washington State Bar Association’s Legal Directory, which can be searched here.
- WSBA has additional resources to help you to connect with and find an attorney or get other legal information here.