Title 49 — Title 49 LABOR REGULATIONS
40 chapters · 645 sections in this title.
RCW 49.44.010 Blacklisting—Penalty.
1.9K chars
Every person in this state who shall wilfully and maliciously, send or deliver, or make or cause to be made, for the purpose of being delivered or sent or part with the possession of any paper, letter or writing, with or without name signed thereto, or signed with a fictitious na…
RCW 49.44.020 Bribery of labor representative.
0.5K chars
Every person who shall give, offer, or promise, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gratuity, or reward to any duly constituted representative of a labor organization, with intent to influence him or her in respect to any of his or her acts, decisions or other duties as suc…
RCW 49.44.030 Labor representative receiving bribe.
0.5K chars
Every person who, being the duly constituted representative of a labor organization, shall ask or receive, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gratuity, or reward, or any promise thereof, upon any agreement or understanding that any of his or her acts, decisions, or other d…
RCW 49.44.040 Obtaining employment by false letter or certificate.
0.2K chars
Every person who shall obtain employment or appointment to any office or place of trust, by color or aid of any false or forged letter or certificate of recommendation, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.[ 1909 c 249 s 371; RRS s 2623.]
RCW 49.44.050 Fraud by employment agent.
0.5K chars
Every employment agent or broker who, with intent to influence the action of any person thereby, shall misstate or misrepresent verbally, or in any writing or advertisement, any material matter relating to the demand for labor, the conditions under which any labor or service is t…
RCW 49.44.060 Corrupt influencing of agent.
0.4K chars
Every person who shall give, offer, or promise, directly or indirectly, any compensation, gratuity, or reward to any agent, employee, or servant of any person or corporation, with intent to influence his or her action in relation to his or her principal's, employer's, or master's…
RCW 49.44.080 Endangering life by refusal to labor.
0.6K chars
Every person who shall wilfully and maliciously, either alone or in combination with others, break a contract of service or employment, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the consequence of his or her so doing will be to endanger human life or to cause grievous bo…
RCW 49.44.085 Provision requiring an employee to waive right to publicly pursue cause of action is unenforceable.
0.5K chars
A provision of an employment contract or agreement is against public policy and is void and unenforceable if it requires an employee to waive the employee's right to publicly pursue a cause of action arising under chapter 49.60 RCW or federal antidiscrimination laws or to publicl…
RCW 49.44.090 Unfair practices in employment because of age of employee or applicant—Exceptions.
2.7K chars
It shall be an unfair practice:(1) For an employer or licensing agency, because an individual is forty years of age or older, to refuse to hire or employ or license or to bar or to terminate from employment such individual, or to discriminate against such individual in promotion,…
RCW 49.44.100 Bringing in out-of-state persons to replace employees involved in labor dispute—Penalty.
1.0K chars
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation not directly involved in a labor strike or lockout to recruit and bring into this state from outside this state any person or persons for employment, or to secure or offer to secure for such person or persons any employ…
RCW 49.44.120 Requiring lie detector tests—Penalty.
1.7K chars
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation or the state of Washington, its political subdivisions or municipal corporations to require, directly or indirectly, that any employee or prospective employee take or be subjected to any lie detector or similar tests as a…
RCW 49.44.135 Requiring lie detector tests—Civil penalty and damages—Attorneys' fees.
0.6K chars
In a civil action alleging a violation of RCW 49.44.120, the court may:(1) Award a penalty in the amount of five hundred dollars to a prevailing employee or prospective employee in addition to any award of actual damages;(2) Award reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to the preva…
RCW 49.44.140 Requiring assignment of employee's rights to inventions—Conditions.
1.7K chars
(1) A provision in an employment agreement which provides that an employee shall assign or offer to assign any of the employee's rights in an invention to the employer does not apply to an invention for which no equipment, supplies, facilities, or trade secret information of the …
RCW 49.44.150 Requiring assignment of employee's rights to inventions—Disclosure of inventions by employee.
0.5K chars
Even though the employee meets the burden of proving the conditions specified in RCW 49.44.140, the employee shall, at the time of employment or thereafter, disclose all inventions being developed by the employee, for the purpose of determining employer or employee rights. The em…
RCW 49.44.160 Public employers—Intent.
2.1K chars
*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2034-S2.SL) ***The legislature intends that public employers be prohibited from misclassifying employees, or taking other action to avoid providing or continuing to provide employment-based benefits to which employees are entitled under state law or em…
RCW 49.44.170 Public employers—Unfair practices—Definitions—Remedies.
1.7K chars
(1) It is an unfair practice for any public employer to:(a) Misclassify any employee to avoid providing or continuing to provide employment-based benefits; or(b) Include any other language in a contract with an employee that requires the employee to forgo employment-based benefit…
RCW 49.44.180 Genetic screening.
0.9K chars
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or the state of Washington, its political subdivisions, or municipal corporations to require, directly or indirectly, that any employee or prospective employee submit genetic information or submit to screening for genetic in…
RCW 49.44.190 Noncompetition agreements for broadcasting industry employees—Restrictions—Trade secrets protected.
1.9K chars
*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 1155-S.SL) ***(1) If an employee subject to an employee noncompetition agreement is terminated without just cause or laid off by action of the employer, the noncompetition agreement is void and unenforceable.(2) Nothing in this section restricts the ri…
RCW 49.44.200 Personal social networking accounts—Restrictions on employer access—Definitions.
4.8K chars
(1) An employer may not:(a) Request, require, or otherwise coerce an employee or applicant to disclose login information for the employee's or applicant's personal social networking account;(b) Request, require, or otherwise coerce an employee or applicant to access his or her pe…
RCW 49.44.205 Violations of RCW 49.44.200—Civil action—Remedies.
0.7K chars
An employee or applicant aggrieved by a violation of RCW 49.44.200 may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction. The court may:(1) Award a prevailing employee or applicant injunctive or other equitable relief, actual damages, a penalty in the amount of five hundr…
RCW 49.44.211 Prohibited nondisclosure and nondisparagement provisions—Retaliation by employer prohibited—Penalties—Construction.
4.7K chars
(1) A provision in an agreement by an employer and an employee not to disclose or discuss conduct, or the existence of a settlement involving conduct, that the employee reasonably believed under Washington state, federal, or common law to be illegal discrimination, illegal harass…
RCW 49.44.220 Prohibited acts with respect to an employee's participation or nonparticipation in an employee assistance program.
1.1K chars
(1)(a) It is unlawful for an employer to obtain individually identifiable information regarding an employee's participation in an employee assistance program. Individually identifiable information gathered in the process of conducting an employee assistance program must be kept c…
RCW 49.44.230 Searches of employee personal vehicles.
2.9K chars
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section:(a) An employer or an employer's agent may not search the privately owned vehicles of employees located on the employer's parking lots or garages or located on the access road to the employer's parking lots or garages.(b) A…
RCW 49.44.240 Discrimination based upon cannabis use—Exceptions.
3.8K chars
(1) It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a person in the initial hiring for employment if the discrimination is based upon:(a) The person's use of cannabis off the job and away from the workplace; or(b) An employer-required drug screening test that has found the…
RCW 49.44.250 Required religious or political meetings—Employee rights—Exceptions—Notice—Definitions.
4.4K chars
(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, any employer, including the state and any instrumentality or political subdivision thereof, may not subject or threaten to subject any employee to discipline or discharge, or otherwise penalize or take any adverse…
RCW 49.44.260 Adult entertainment regulation.
0.9K chars
(1) A city with a population of more than 650,000 or a county with a population of more than 2,000,000 may not adopt or enforce ordinances or regulations that:(a) Limit or prohibit an entertainer from collecting payment for adult entertainment from customers; or(b) Restrict an en…