State minimum wage
The state’s minimum wage will increase to $16.28 per hour. It applies to workers age 16 and older. Employers may pay 85 percent of that wage to workers ages 14-15, or $13.84 per hour.

Overtime exempt employees
The salary threshold used to determine if certain workers are exempt from overtime pay will be $1,302.40 a week ($67,724.80 a year). The rate affects executive, administrative, and professional workers, plus computer professionals and outside salespeople to be exempt from overtime requirements. The hourly wage for exempt computer professionals will be $56.98, or 3.5 times the minimum wage.

Overtime for ag workers
Starting in January, agriculture employees will be eligible for overtime after working 40 hours in a workweek. That’s down from 48 hours in 2023. This will be the last step of a multi-year adjustment that began when the legislature extended overtime pay rights to agricultural workers. It started at 55 hours in 2022 then dropped to 48 last year.

Minimum pay for rideshare drivers
In 2024, for trips within Seattle, drivers for rideshare companies like Lyft and Uber will earn at least 66 cents per passenger platform minute and $1.55 per passenger platform mile, or $5.81, whichever is greater.

For trips outside of Seattle, drivers will earn 38 cents per passenger platform minute and $1.31 per passenger platform mile, or $3.37, whichever is greater.

Food delivery drivers are not covered by this law.

Non-compete agreements
Only workers who earn more than $120,559.99 per year for employees or $301,399.98 per year for independent contractors can be held to non-competition agreements.

Know your rights as a worker
L&I enforces the state’s wage-and-hour laws and investigates all wage-payment complaints. A worker rights complaint can be filed online, downloaded and mailed to the agency, or at a local L&I office.