Title 49 — Title 49 LABOR REGULATIONS

It is an unfair labor practice for an employer:(1) To interfere with, restrain, or coerce symphony musicians in the exercise of their rights guaranteed by this chapter;(2) To control, dominate, or interfere with a bargaining representative;(3) To discriminate against a symphony m…

It is an unfair labor practice for a bargaining representative:(1) To interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees in the exercise of their rights guaranteed by this chapter;(2) To induce the employer to commit an unfair labor practice;(3) To discriminate against a symphony musi…

(1) The commission must prevent unfair labor practices and issue appropriate remedial orders. However, a complaint may not be processed for an unfair labor practice occurring more than six months before the filing of the complaint with the commission or in superior court.(2) If t…

Actions taken by or on behalf of the commission shall be pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW, or rules adopted in accordance with chapter 34.05 RCW, and the right of judicial review provided by chapter 34.05 RCW is applicable to all actions and rules.[ 2010 c 6 s 16.]

For the purpose of this chapter the term "seasonal labor" shall include all work performed by any person employed for a period of time greater than one month and where the wages for such work are not to be paid at any fixed interval of time, but at the termination of such employm…

Every contract for seasonal labor shall be in writing and signed by the employer and the employee, and may provide for advances of moneys to be earned under such contract or for the furnishing of supplies to the employee before the wages are earned, and for the payment of money o…

Every employee who with intent to defraud shall have secured advances of money or supplies under a contract for seasonable labor and who with intent to defraud shall wilfully fail to perform sufficient labor to compensate for such advances and supplies made under such contract sh…

Upon the written petition of either the employer or the employee setting forth in ordinary and concise language the facts and questions in dispute, the director of labor and industries shall, in person or by his or her duly authorized deputy, and is hereby authorized to hear and …

Upon the filing of any such petition, the director of labor and industries shall notify the other party to the dispute of the time and place when and where such petition will be heard, and may set said petition for a hearing before a regularly appointed deputy at such place in th…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6039-S.SL) ***The director of labor and industries, or his or her deputy holding the hearing shall, after such hearing, determine the amount due from the employer to the employee, and shall make findings of fact and an award in accordance therewith, wh…

Any person aggrieved by the finding or award of the director of labor and industries has the right of appeal in the manner provided in chapter 34.05 RCW.[ 1987 c 202 s 217; 1919 c 191 s 7; RRS s 7609.]Notes:Intent—1987 c 202: See note following RCW 2.04.190.

In case no appeal is taken from the award of the director of labor and industries and suit shall be brought upon the contract for seasonal labor in any court of competent jurisdiction, the findings and award of the director made in any proceeding under this chapter at a hearing a…

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…

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…

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…

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.]

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…

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…

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…

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…

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,…

(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…

(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…

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…

(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 …

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…

*** 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…

(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…

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…

*** 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…

(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…

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…

(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…

(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…

(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…

(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…

(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…

(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…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6106.SL) ***The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Affected employee" means an employee who may reasonably expect to experience an employment loss because of a proposed business …

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6106.SL) ***(1)(a) Subject to RCW 49.45.030, an employer may not order a business closing or a mass layoff until the end of a 60-day period that begins after the employer, pursuant to this section, serves written notice of such action to the department…

(1) An employer is not required to comply with the notice requirements under RCW 49.45.020 if:(a)(i) At the time the notice would have been required, the employer was actively seeking capital or business;(ii) The capital or business sought, if obtained, would have enabled the emp…

(1) An employer that orders a business closing or mass layoff without providing a notice required by RCW 49.45.020 is liable to each aggrieved employee who suffers an employment loss because of the closing or layoff for:(a) Back pay for each day of violation not less than the hig…

(1) An employer who fails to give the notice required by RCW 49.45.020 to the department is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $500 for each day of the employer's violation. However, the employer is not subject to a civil penalty under this section if the employer pays t…

Except in the cases exempted under RCW 49.45.030(1) (b) through (d), an employer may not include an employee in an order of a mass layoff if the employee is currently on paid family or medical leave under Title 50A RCW.[ 2025 c 277 s 6.]

The department shall administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter and may adopt rules to carry out its purpose. Rules adopted pursuant to this section must include documentation requirements for the exceptions in RCW 49.45.030.[ 2025 c 277 s 7.]

Chapter 277, Laws of 2025 may be known and cited as the securing timely notification and benefits for laid-off employees act.[ 2025 c 277 s 8.]

(1) Whereas the establishment of a minimum wage for employees is a subject of vital and imminent concern to the people of this state and requires appropriate action by the legislature to establish minimum standards of employment within the state of Washington, therefore the legis…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2355-S.SL) ***As used in this chapter:(1) "Coercion" means a threat to compel or induce a person to engage in conduct which the person has a legal right to abstain from, or to abstain from conduct in which the person has a legal right to engage in;(2) …

(1)(a) Beginning January 1, 2017, and until January 1, 2018, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who has reached the age of eighteen years wages at a rate of not less than eleven dollars per hour.(b) Beginning January 1, 2018, and until January 1, 2019, every…

(1) The director or his or her designated representatives may investigate and gather data regarding the wages, hours, and other conditions and practices of employment in any industry subject to this chapter, and may enter and inspect such places and such records (and make such tr…