Employment and Labor Standards.
State law contains various labor and employment requirements and protections for employees, some of which have general application while others apply to specific industries. Some labor and employment standards contain specific exemptions for domestic workers or laborers working in and about private residences, depending on the circumstances.
Minimum Wage Act. The Minimum Wage Act (MWA) establishes a statewide minimum hourly wage, requires overtime pay for employees, provides for paid sick leave, and provides for other employment standards, and the Wage Payment Act (WPA) provides for administrative or court action to collect wages under the MWA and other wage laws. The current statewide hourly minimum wage is $16.66, which is adjusted annually for inflation by the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). Overtime pay must be at least 1.5 times the employee's regular hourly rate, and employees cannot waive their right to overtime pay. It is unlawful to make certain deductions from wages and to fail to pay wages. Employers must provide employees with at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. L&I may inspect places of business, investigate, and gather data regarding wages, hours, and other conditions and practices. It is a gross misdemeanor for an employer to discriminate against an employee because the employee complained to the employer or L&I that the MWA has been violated, or because the employee was involved in a proceeding related to the MWA.
Certain workers are exempt from the MWA, including, among others:
Hours of Labor. State law makes it a gross misdemeanor for an employer to employ a household or domestic employee for longer than 60 hours in any week, which includes any time when the employee has to remain subject to the call of the employer and when the employee is not free to follow his or her inclinations.
Industrial Welfare Act. The Industrial Welfare Act (IWA) directs L&I to adopt rules governing meal and rest periods. Employers must provide all employees with meal and rest periods, as follows:
An employer is not required to pay an employee for a meal period if the employee is completely relieved from duty and receives at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted break time. Rest breaks are considered compensable hours worked at the employee's agreed wage rate. An employer may never deduct from an employee's hours worked for time spent on lawful rest breaks.
The IWA does not apply to domestic or causal labor in or about private residences.
Washington Law Against Discrimination. The Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) prohibits discrimination in employment based on the person's protected status, such as race, creed, color, national origin, sex, disability, and other protected categories. The WLAD applies to employers who employ eight or more persons and does not include any nonprofit religious or sectarian organization. An aggrieved person may file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission (HRC) or may file a private cause of action in court.
Workers' Compensation. Workers who are injured or disabled in the course of employment are entitled to certain benefits through the workers' compensation program, administered by L&I. Benefits may include medical costs, temporary time-loss, vocational rehabilitation benefits, and permanent disabilities benefits. Any person employed as a domestic servant in a private home by an employer who has less than two employees regularly employed 40 or more hours a week or employed to do gardening, maintenance, or repair, in or about the private home is excluded from workers' compensation.
Employment Relationships.
State employment and labor laws generally apply to employers and employees.
Independent Contractors. Under certain circumstances, a person or entity may pay another person or entity for services without forming an employment relationship. For example, a bona fide independent contractor is exempt from the MWA. Certain factors determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor under the MWA, including: the degree of control that the person or business has over the worker; the worker's opportunity for profit or loss is dependent on the worker's managerial skill; the worker's investment in equipment or material; the degree of skill required for the job; and the degree to which the services rendered by the worker are an integral part of the other person's business.
Joint Employment. Under the concept of joint employment, more than one entity may share in the legal responsibility for employees. Depending on the applicable employment or labor law, a common law test may apply to determine if joint employment exists. These tests generally include a fact-specific analysis to address the extent to which an entity exercises control over a workplace and the employees. For example, when assessing liability under the MWA, the court applies the joint employer doctrine for evaluating a particular entity's liability with respect to a worker. The court evaluates a list of nonexclusive factors, which includes, for example: the nature and degree of control over the workers; the degree of supervision, direct or indirect, of the work; the power to determine the pay rates or the methods of payment of the workers; the right, directly or indirectly, to hire, fire, or modify the employment conditions of the workers; preparation of payroll and the payment of wages; whether responsibility under the contracts between a labor contractor and an employer pass from one labor contractor to another without material changes; whether the employees had a business organization that shifted as a unit from one worksite to another; and whether there was permanence in the working relationship.
Domestic Worker Protections.
The Legislature declares that health, safety, wage protections, and general welfare are guaranteed for domestic workers, and then establishes separate protections for domestic workers. Applicable federal, state, and local laws that are more favorable to domestic workers than those in the bill are not affected and still apply to domestic workers.
A "domestic worker" includes hourly and salaried employees and includes any worker who: works for one or more hiring entities; and works in residences as a nanny, house cleaner, home care worker, cook, gardener, or household manager, or for other domestic service purposes, which includes services related to the care of persons in private homes or the maintenance of private homes or their premises.
A "domestic worker" does not include: persons who provide babysitting on a casual labor basis; persons who perform house sitting, pet sitting, and dog walking duties that do not involve domestic service; any individual in a family relationship with the hiring entity; certain providers of long-term care who contract with the Department of Social and Health Services; casual laborers who perform irregular, uncertain, and incidental work in or about a private home that is different from the laborer's customary work, unless employed by a hiring entity for work performed in the course of the hiring entity's trade, business, or profession.
A "hiring entity" includes:
A home care agency is not a hiring entity if it receives certain public funds.
Where more than one hiring entity has an employment relationship with a domestic worker in connection with work at the same location, the hiring entities are subject to liability as well as concurrent fines and penalties for violations under the bill. Any state agency that does not contract with or employ domestic workers in the ordinary course of business is not subject to liability, unless that state agency directly interferes with the rights established for domestic workers.
A hiring entity employing a domestic worker must:
A hiring entity may not:
Written Agreements and Terminations. The terms and expectations of employment must be in a written agreement with details such as: the location where the work will be done, rate of pay, work schedule, and, if applicable, information about sick days, vacation days, severance, health insurance costs, and other expectations. The written agreement must be provided in a language understood by the worker, and the hiring entity, and must be signed and dated by both parties. A written agreement may not contain provisions waiving a domestic worker's rights under federal, state, or local laws. The agreement may not contain a mandatory predispute arbitration clause for employee claims, or any nondisclosure, noncomplete, or nondisparagement clause. L&I must develop model disclosure statements, which describes a hiring entity's duties and a domestic worker's rights, and a model written agreement.
The hiring entity must provide written notice at least two weeks before terminating employment. For live-in domestic workers, at least four weeks' notice is required. A domestic worker is entitled to severance pay if a hiring entity fails to comply with notification requirements. A notice is not required if the termination:
Agency Enforcement. A domestic worker may file a complaint alleging a violation of the bill in accordance with certain deadlines. L&I may order the hiring entity to pay a civil penalty of $1,000 for each willful violation. If the hiring entity is a repeat violator, L&I may impose a civil penalty of not less than $2,000, and no more than $20,000, for each willful violation. L&I may waive or reduce the civil penalties and may not order any penalty if the hiring entity reasonably relied on a written order, ruling, opinion, advice, determination, agency interpretation, or other agency policy.
Retaliation Claims. It is unlawful for a hiring entity to use a domestic worker's exercise of rights as a negative factor in any employment action, such as disciplining the domestic worker, denying or delaying payment of wages, terminating or demoting the worker, or reducing the number of work hours the worker is scheduled to work. There is a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if the hiring entity takes adverse action against a domestic worker within 90 days of the domestic worker exercising their rights. The hiring entity may rebut the presumption with clear and convincing evidence that the adverse action was taken for a permissible purpose.
A domestic worker may file a claim with L&I alleging retaliation in accordance with certain deadlines. If the complaint is not resolved, L&I may, among other things, order the hiring entity to: pay lost earnings due to the retaliatory action, restore the domestic worker to employment, and pay civil penalties. Civil penalties for a retaliatory action may not be less than $1,000, or an amount equal to 10 percent of the total amount of unpaid earnings attributable to the retaliatory action, whichever is greater. The maximum civil penalty is $20,000 for the first violation and $40,000 for each repeat violation. L&I may waive or reduce civil penalties if the hiring entity took corrective action.
Private Cause of Action. A domestic worker may also bring a civil action for any violation of the worker's rights under the bill, including for any legal action necessary to collect such claim and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
Minimum Wage Act.
The MWA exemption for persons whose duties required they sleep or reside at their place of employment or persons who otherwise spend a substantial portion of their work time subject to call and not engaged in the performance of active duties is modified. The exemption specifically excludes domestic workers as defined in the bill, thereby subjecting those workers and their employers to the MWA, unless another exemption applies.
Washington Law Against Discrimination.
The WLAD is modified to apply to hiring entities and other employers of domestic service employees, subject to certain exemptions, regardless of the entity or employer's total number of employees. An employee in domestic service may bring suit alleging employment discrimination under the WLAD, subject to certain exceptions related to elderly or disabled persons, but may not otherwise file certain administrative complaints with the HRC.
Workers' Compensation.
L&I must convene a work group of specified stakeholders to investigate models allowing domestic workers to access workers' compensation coverage. The work group must consider certain models identified in the bill. The work group must report to the Legislature by October 1, 2026.
(In support) This bill addresses urgent issues for domestic workers across the state. Domestic workers experience wage intimidation, harassment, unsafe working conditions, and labor violations, while lacking any recourse or remedy to resolve these issues. While most employers do not intentionally perpetrate these abuses, bad actors drive down working conditions for all workers. The bill is about providing these workers with comprehensive protections: minimum wage, meal and rest breaks, sick leave, written contracts, and antiretaliation protection. Domestic workers are critical to our economy and our society. They help raise children, take care of the elderly, and keep our homes in order. Many of us could not serve in our careers without the support of domestic workers. We should protect their dignity and safety by providing these basic protections.
(Opposed) None.
Anarosa Bello Nieto, Fair Work Center; Danielle Alvarado, Fair Work Center-Working Washington; Heather Villanueva; and Jean Hill, Washington State Catholic Conference.
The amended bill defines "domestic worker" as any worker who: is an hourly employee, salaried employee, or independent contractor; works for one or more hiring entities; and works in one or more residences as a nanny, house cleaner, home care worker, cook, gardener, or household manager (rather than defining it as including hourly and salaried employees and including any worker who: works for one or more hiring entities; and is an individual who works in residences as a nanny, house cleaner, home care worker, cook, gardener, or household manager, or for any domestic service purpose), but otherwise retains language specifying certain categories of workers are excluded from the definition of "domestic worker." The amended bill removes the definition of "domestic service."
The amended bill modifies the scope of employers and entities responsible for the requirements in the bill by:
With respect to written agreements, the amended bill:
With respect to advance notice of terminations, the amended bill adds a provision allowing a hiring entity to terminate a domestic worker without advance notice or severance if the worker was hired on a one-time or intermittent basis without an expectation of ongoing employment. It also removes language specifying that a hiring entity must be able to articulate and support certain allegations in order to justify terminations based on a domestic worker's misconduct, which are tied to the requirement to provide advance notice of termination.
With respect to records, the amended bill:
With respect to cooking, the amended bill removes the provision requiring a hiring entity to permit a live-in domestic worker to cook and consume the worker's own food.
With respect to enforcement of antiretaliation requirements, the amended bill consolidates provisions governing monetary penalties by removing language specifying that penalties for second or subsequent violations must be doubled, but otherwise retaining language providing that the penalty for each violation must be $1,000 or an amount equal to 10 percent of the total amount of unpaid earnings attributable to the retaliatory action, whichever is greater, and providing that the maximum civil penalty is $20,000 for the first violation, and $40,000 for each repeat violation.
With respect to workers’ compensation coverage, the amended bill removes the requirement for L&I to convene a work group to investigate models for allowing domestic workers to access coverage; instead, it requires L&I to conduct a study for this purpose. L&I is required to consult with certain specified interests when conducting the study, and it must report its findings to the Governor and Legislature by October 1, 2026.
The amended bill also makes several other technical changes to conform to drafting standards and improve clarity and readability.
(In support) This bill extends some of the most basic of rights, minimum wage breaks and protection from discrimination, to workers who are currently unfairly excluded from our workplace protections. It is an urgently needed policy that is going to bring stability and respect to a workforce that so many people rely on on a day-to-day basis. In addition, the scope of this bill is narrowed to reduce its fiscal impact.
(Opposed) None.
Danielle Alvarado, Fair Work Center.