The state’s minimum wage will increase to $13.69 per hour starting Jan. 1, 2021. The change is significant this year because it also impacts wages paid to some salaried employees exempt from overtime and other protections under state law.
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) enforces the state’s wage-and-hour laws and issued a news release Sept. 30 explaining the changes. The minimum wage applies to most jobs, including those in agriculture.
This is the first year L&I has returned to calculating the minimum wage since 2016. For the past four years, increases were mandated as a result of passage of Initiative 1433 that year.
The 2021 minimum wage is based on a 1.39 percent increase over the last 12 months in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
The state minimum wage applies to workers age 16 and older. Under state law, employers can pay 85 percent of the minimum wage to workers ages 14-15. For 2021, that will be $11.64 per hour.
L&I also reminds employers:
• Tips and service charges do not count toward paying that worker’s state minimum wage.
• Farm workers can’t be paid less than the minimum wage, even when paid on a piece-rate basis. Regardless of how an employee is paid, the rate of pay must be at least the current state minimum wage.
• Seattle and SeaTac each have set their own minimum wage. Check with those cities for additional information.
For salaried professionals
Salaried executive, administrative and professional workers, and computer professionals must earn a salary above a minimum specified amount to remain overtime exempt. That amount will increase in 2021.
L&I changed the minimum amount these exempt employees must earn when updates to the state overtime rules took effect July 1. The salary thresholds are now based on a multiplier of the minimum wage. In 2021, those thresholds are:
• For small businesses with 1-50 employees, an exempt employee must earn a salary of at least 1.5 times the minimum wage, or $821.40 a week ($42,712.80/year).
• For large businesses with 51 or more employees, an exempt employee must earn a salary of at least 1.75 times the minimum wage, or $958.30 a week ($49,831.60/year).
There are also changes in the thresholds for exempt computer professionals paid by the hour.
Because the new state thresholds will be more favorable than the federal threshold of $684/week ($35,568/year), Washington employers will have to adhere to the state thresholds in 2021.
Complete information about the minimum wage is available on L&I’s website, as well as details about overtime, rest breaks and meal periods. There’s also a minimum wage announcement online that employers can print and post.
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