Various laws, such as the Minimum Wage Act (MWA) and Wage Payment Act (WPA), establish standards for payment of wages. Wages include compensation due to an employee by reason of employment. It is unlawful for an employer to deprive an employee of their wages. An individual owed unpaid wages may file a wage complaint with the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) under the WPA, and L&I must investigate. Unless the complaint is otherwise resolved, the L&I must issue either a citation and notice of assessment or a determination of compliance.
L&I must convene a work group to develop and recommend strategies that help employees who are owed wages recover those wages and be made whole as quickly and fully as possible when their employer violates the Minimum Wage Act or state wage payment requirements. The work group must identify options to enhance L&I's ability to provide swift relief to employees. Options the work group must explore include:
The work group must include the following representatives:
Recommendations from the work group must be made by consensus, if possible. For each recommendation, the work group must identify and address implementation issues and assess feasibility.
The work group must submit a report with recommendations to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by December 1, 2025.