Washington Labor Guidance
Free plain-English summaries of opinion letters, administrative policies, and interpretive notices from Washington's labor agency, with the current status and the official source on every page.
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Minimum Wage Act Applicability
This L&I administrative policy explains who is covered by Washington's Minimum Wage Act (RCW 49.46): which employers must comply, the 17 categories of workers the statute exempts by name (casual labor…
Industrial Welfare Act: Applications, Exemptions, and Interpretations
This L&I administrative policy is the department's general reference on the Industrial Welfare Act (RCW 49.12), which governs conditions of labor — minor employment, meal and rest periods, personnel-f…
Overtime
This L&I administrative policy explains Washington's overtime rules under the Minimum Wage Act: the requirement to pay 1.5x the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, how to calculate the "regu…
Minimum Wage Act - Employment Relationships
This L&I administrative policy explains who counts as an "employer" under the Minimum Wage Act, including when a corporate officer, owner, or manager can be personally and jointly liable for wage viol…
Student Learner Exemption for Worksite Learning and Apprenticeships in Certain Hazardous Work
This L&I administrative policy explains the "student-learner exemption" that lets 16- and 17-year-olds in a paid, OSPI-approved worksite learning program or a registered apprenticeship perform certain…
Salary Thresholds for Exemption from Minimum Wage Act for White-Collar Workers
This L&I administrative policy explains how to calculate the salary threshold that executive, administrative, professional, and salaried computer professional employees must meet to be exempt from the…
Definition of Fee Basis in Administrative, Professional and Outside Sales Positions
This short L&I administrative policy defines "fee basis" pay — a fixed charge for a single, unique job regardless of time spent, as opposed to hourly pay, piecework, bonuses, or commissions — which ca…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Outside Salespersons
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's outside sales exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections. To qualify, an employee's primary duty must…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Computer Professional Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's computer professional exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections, covering systems analysts, programm…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Professional Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's professional exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections, covering four categories: learned profession…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Administrative Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's administrative exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections. It requires a primary duty of office or no…
Exemption from Minimum Wage Act Requirements for Executive Employees
This L&I administrative policy details Washington's executive exemption from minimum wage, overtime, sick leave, and other Minimum Wage Act protections. It lays out the four-part duties test (primary …
General Information Applicable to Exemptions from Minimum Wage Act for White-Collar Workers
This L&I administrative policy is the umbrella introduction to the executive, administrative, professional, computer professional, and outside sales exemptions from Washington's Minimum Wage Act, poin…
Questions and Answers About Salary Basis
This L&I administrative policy is a 23-question Q&A on the "salary basis" requirement that bona fide executive, administrative, professional, and computer professional employees must meet to be exempt…
Retail or Service Establishment Commission Overtime Exception
This L&I administrative policy explains the overtime exception in RCW 49.46.130(3) for commissioned employees of retail or service establishments, adopting federal FLSA definitions because the state s…
Special Education Student Exemption from Minimum Wage
This L&I administrative policy explains when a special-education student's unpaid work-experience placement, including a short unpaid workstation trial, is not considered "employment" under RCW 49.46.…
Examples of Retail Sales and Service Establishments
This L&I policy supplements ES.A.10.1 and ES.A.10.2 with two partial reference lists used to determine whether a business qualifies as a "retail or service establishment" for the commission overtime e…
Frequently Asked Questions: Retail/Service Establishment Sales Exception
This L&I FAQ supplements ES.A.10.1 and answers common questions about the retail/service establishment commission overtime exception under RCW 49.46.130(3): what happens to commission pay on separatio…
Browse Washington guidance by topic
These are official interpretive documents from Washington's labor agency: opinion letters answering questions from employers and workers, administrative policies, and interpretive notices. They show how the agency applies wage-and-hour and workplace law to real situations, but they are guidance, not statutes or court decisions, and the agency can supersede or withdraw them. Every page above shows the document's current status, when that status was last verified, and a link to the official source.