Minimum Wage Hike and More for Seattle Employees

Effective January 1, 2018, employers in Seattle are required to post the new city poster just released by the Office of Labor Standards. The poster includes updates to three of the city’s ordinances: Minimum Wage, Wage Theft, and Paid Sick & Safe Time. There are no changes to the Fair Chance Employment ordinance information.

What’s Changing in the “Emerald City”?

Minimum Wage Rates for Large and Small Employers

The poster includes the following provisions for large and small employers, effective 1/1/18:

  • Large employers (501 or more employees) who don’t contribute to their employees’ medical benefits must pay a minimum wage of $15.45 per hour.
  • Large employers who do contribute to their employees’ medical benefits must pay a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour.
  • Small employers (500 or fewer employees) who don’t contribute at least $2.50 per hour toward employees’ medical benefits and/or whose employees don’t earn at least $2.50 per hour in tips must pay a minimum wage of $14.00 per hour.
  • Small employers who do contribute at least $2.50 per hour toward employees’ medical benefits and/or whose employees do earn at least $2.50 per hour in tips must pay a minimum wage of $11.50 per hour.

New Pay Requirement for Wage Theft Law

Restaurant or other food service employers must pay service charges to employees who serve customers, unless receipts or menus state that service charges are not paid directly to these staff members.

Update to Paid Sick & Safe Time

As stated on Seattle’s 2017 poster, employers are required to provide employees with paid leave to care for themselves or a family member. However, on the 2018 poster, the term family member has been defined. Paid leave may be used to care for a child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or household member.

A Couple More Changes…

The contact information at the bottom of the poster has been condensed and includes a new phone number for Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards. By calling the number or going to the office’s website, which has not changed (www.seattle.gov/laborstandards), employers and employees can access private and free services. These include compliance and assistance training for employers, and help with investigations or filing a lawsuit for employees.

Last but not least, employees may now select a check box to request a translation of the poster in these languages and more: Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Khmer, Korean, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, Tigrinya, and Vietnamese.

We Can Help You Stay in Compliance

If you order our City/County Poster 1-Year Plan, you will automatically receive the updated Seattle poster as soon as it becomes available. And because we provide free poster updates for mandatory changes, no matter how many occur during the year, you can count on us to keep you in compliance!