Minimum Wage and Overtime. As of January 1, 2021, the minimum wage in the state of Washington is $13.69 per hour. The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) calculates the state minimum wage. Washington employers must pay most employees at least the minimum wage for every hour worked. Most employees who work more than 40 hours in a seven-day workweek must be paid overtime. Overtime pay must be at least 1.5 times the employee's regular hourly rate and employees may not waive their right to overtime pay. Employers must pay overtime to eligible workers regardless of employer size. Collective bargaining agreements and employers may provide more generous overtime pay than state law requires. L&I handles worker rights complaints under the Wage Payment Act. Workers may also choose to file a civil action for violations under the Minimum Wage and Wage Payment Acts.
Overtime Exemptions. Although most employees are entitled to overtime pay after working 40 hours in a seven-day workweek, there are specific categories of employees who are not required to receive overtime, such as executive, administrative, and professional employees in some circumstances; casual laborers; certain seasonal employees; workers performing forest protection and fire prevention activities; and most agricultural workers.
Overtime does not apply to individuals working on a farm involved in:
Recent Washington Supreme Court Case. On November 5, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court ruled in Jose Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy, Inc., that the current law exempting agricultural workers from overtime pay, as applied to dairy workers, is unconstitutional under the Washington State Constitution. Specifically, the court held that the stated purpose of the Minimum Wage Act is to protect the health and safety of Washington workers, as required by the constitution, and under it, the agricultural exemption to overtime pay granted an impermissible privilege or immunity to dairy employers not to pay overtime to their workers. The decision did not address whether dairy employers must pay retroactive overtime for work in excess of 40 hours prior to the date of the decision because neither party raised the issue in its statement of grounds for review, therefore, the issue was not properly before the court.
Agricultural employee means any individual employed:
Overtime Phase-In. Agricultural employees are entitled to overtime in the following manner:
The overtime phase in does not apply to hours worked by an agricultural employee for an employer engaged in dairy cattle and milk production activities described in the North American industry classification system. The overtime phase-in provisions expire on January 1, 2025.
Safe Harbor. No damages, statutory or civil penalties, attorneys' fees and costs, or other type of relief may be granted against an employer to an agricultural employee seeking unpaid overtime due to the agricultural employee's historical exclusion from overtime under the Minimum Wage Act's agricultural exemption, as it existed on November 4, 2020.
The safe harbor provisions do not apply to agricultural employees entitled to backpay or other relief as a result of being a member in the class of plaintiffs in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Bros. Dairy.
The safe harbor provisions apply retroactively to claims filed after November 5, 2020, and before the act's effective date.
Other. The agricultural exemption contained in the Minimum Wage Act is removed on January 1, 2024.
The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard. PRO: This bill does not overturn a court decision but does address an issue the court was silent on, whether farmers are liable to pay three years of retroactive overtime. The bill is needed to rectify an unfair situation. This is a matter of fairness. Dairy employers operated under the current laws and interpretations and now they are being told to go back and pay overtime. Farmers were not violating the law, the law changed on them. Dairy farmers are not opposed to paying overtime. If employers have to pay overtime they will be out of business and not hire workers. Farms are being sued to collect overtime wages even though they never violated the laws.
CON: We should let the courts do their job and apply the standards already in place to decide the issue. The agricultural exemption has existed for 60 years and has saved the industry millions of dollars. The bill seeks to grant the same unconstitutional privilege to the industry the court invalidated. This bill will hurt Washington workers. The bill is not limited to exceptional cases and this would allow back-pay in many cases, whether related to agricultural employers or not.
OTHER: This bill also matters in other parts of the business community, not just agriculture.