Beginning January 1, the state minimum wage will go up from $12 per hour to $13.50 per hour. This increase was part of the voter-approved I-1433 that passed in 2016.

Additionally, the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has been working on updated rules and requirements around overtime pay during the past several months. That work has been completed and the new rules were announced earlier this week.

The new overtime pay rules use a formula based on the state minimum wage to determine the minimum salary a worker must receive to be exempt from overtime. The changes will be phased in starting July 1, 2020, and will be fully implemented by January 2028.

Initially, Washington employers will be required to follow the new federal overtime rule, which takes effect on January 1, 2020. The recently updated federal threshold of $684 per week ($35,568 per year) will be slightly higher than Washington’s until 2021.

When state and federal thresholds conflict, businesses must meet the threshold most favorable to employees. Washington’s threshold will exceed the federal level on January 1, 2021. At that time, businesses with 1-50 employees will have to pay exempt employees at least 1.5 times the state minimum wage, about $827 per week ($43,004 per year). For businesses with 51 or more employees, the threshold will be 1.75 times the minimum wage, about $965 per week ($50,180 per year).

The state threshold will increase incrementally until January 1, 2028, when it reaches the final level of 2.5 times the state minimum wage. After that, the salary threshold will rise when the minimum wage is increased for inflation.

The adopted rules also update the job duties tests that are used, along with the new salary threshold, to determine whether an employee can be exempt from overtime.

L&I’s website has more detailed information about the new overtime rules and requirements.