Minimum Wage Increases & Salary Information

Minimum Wage Increases to $15.74 starting Jan. 1, 2023

The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced that the state’s minimum wage will increase to $15.74 starting Jan. 1, 2023.

Seattle and SeaTac have their own minimum wage laws, and employers in these cities must use the local minimum wage rate as long as it is higher than the state minimum. In Seattle, the 2023 inflation adjusted rate is $18.69 for large companies and  $16.50 for small companies while SeaTac will increase theirs across the board from $17.53 to $19.06.

In addition, the state overtime thresholds will also increase to $57,293 for small employers (>51 employees) and $65,478 for large employers (51+ employees). Overtime thresholds are the minimum salaries a worker must receive to be overtime exempt and apply to many, but not all industries. In general, these workers must be salaried and paid a minimum specified salary level, and must primarily perform executive, administrative, professional, outside sales or computer professional duties as defined by state regulations.

Wage and Salary Information Must Be Included in Job Postings Starting Jan. 1, 2023

Starting January 1, 2023, wage and salary information must be included in most job postings.

Small businesses with less than 15 employees are not required to comply, however, recent guidance from the Washington State's Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) clarifies that covered employers "includes employers that do not have a physical presence in Washington, if the employer has one or more Washington-based employees."

Although, employers were already required to disclose this information upon request once a conditional offer of employment was made due to the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act passed in 2019, Senate Bill 5761 passed in the last legislative session requires the information including benefits be included in the job posting as well.

A "posting" means any solicitation intended to recruit job applicants for a specific available position, including recruitment done directly by an employer or indirectly through a third party, and includes any postings done electronically or in hard copy that includes qualifications for desired applicants. New guidance from L&I states that this applies to internal candidates and postings as well.