Washington’s minimum wage is increasing in 2021, officials say. Here’s how much
.jpg "Washington’s minimum wage will increase on Jan. 1, 2021. Those whose wages are rising will get paid the new minimum on January paychecks for work in December. Getty Images | Royalty Free")
Employees in Washington will get a boost to their paychecks in 2021 as the state is set to increase its minimum wage by nearly 20 cents, the Department of Labor and Industries said in a news release.
Washington’s minimum will go from $13.50 to $13.69 per hour on Jan. 1, the department said. But workers will not see that increase for hours worked in December, according to the release.
“If you receive the minimum wage, and worked during December but are paid in January for that time, then you’ll receive the 2020 minimum wage,” Joshua Grice, Employment Standards Program manager at the department, said in a statement. “This is something we remind businesses and employees about frequently.”
The new minimum will apply to all Washington workers who are 16 or older, according to the release.
Wages for workers between the ages of 14 and 15 will increase to $11.64 per hour, the release said.
Changes are also coming for exempt employees who are “salaried executive, administrative and professional workers, and computer professionals” who must get paid “above a minimum specified amount to remain overtime exempt,” according to the release.
Employers with 50 or fewer employees must pay qualified workers “a salary of at least 1.5 times the minimum wage, or $821.40 a week” and businesses with 51 or more employees must pay “a salary of at least 1.75 times the minimum wage, or $958.30 a week,” the release said.
Seattle’s minimum wage will increase from $15.75 per hour to $16.69, according to the department. SeaTac’s minimum will increase from $16.34 per hour to $16.57, the department says.
Washington will have the third highest minimum wage in the country in 2021, according to Paycor. Washington D.C. is first with a minimum wage of $15, followed by California where the minimum wage is $14, Paycor says.
The minimum wage has increased each year in Washington starting in 2017, after voters approved Initiative 1433 in 2016, requiring “a statewide minimum wage of $11.00 in 2017, $11.50 in 2018, $12.00 in 2019 and $13.50 in 2020,” according to the department. Every year after 2021, the Department of Labor and Industries will “make a cost-of-living adjustment to the minimum wage,” the agency says.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Washington’s minimum wage is increasing in 2021, officials say. Here’s how much."