OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — More than 250,000 workers in Washington would be eligible for overtime pay under a rule proposed by the Department of Labor and Industries.
L&I’s proposal would shrink the so-called “white collar exemption” that excludes many workers from overtime and minimum wage requirements.
Washington workers are currently covered by the federal threshold of just under $24,000 per year.
Under this proposal, employers with 50 or fewer employees would have to pay overtime to workers who are making less than $35,000 a year in 2020.
For larger companies, workers earning less than $49,000 would be eligible for overtime.
That overtime threshold would grow for all workers to almost $80,000 per year by 2026.