Washington HR Laws for Small Employers (2026)

Washington at a glance

Pay range in job posts: Employers with 15 or more employees must show the wage scale or salary range and a general description of benefits and other pay in every job posting, including postings placed by a recruiter or job board.
New-hire reporting: Report new and rehired employees to the Division of Child Support (DCS) within 20 days of the start date.
Paid sick leave: At least 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, from the first day, for non-exempt employees. Usable after 90 days, and up to 40 unused hours carry over.
Paid family and medical leave: State Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML). The 2026 premium is 1.13% of wages; employees can be charged up to 71.43% of it, and employers with 50 or more employees pay the rest.
Final pay when you end employment: On or before the next regularly scheduled payday.
Final pay when they quit: On or before the next regularly scheduled payday, the same as a firing.
Unused vacation at exit: Not required by state law. Payout follows your written policy or agreement.

Hiring in Washington

Pay ranges in job posts. Once you have 15 or more employees, every posting for a job opening must include the wage scale or salary range (or the fixed wage, if there is only one) and a general description of all the benefits and other compensation the person will get. A posting is any solicitation for a specific open position that lists qualifications, whether you post it yourself or a third party posts it for you. When a current employee is offered a transfer or promotion, you must give the range for the new role if they ask. Applicants can recover $100 to $5,000 per violation. For postings from July 27, 2025 through July 27, 2027, you get a chance to fix a posting: if you correct it within five business days of a written notice (and ask any third-party site to correct it too), no penalty applies. See pay transparency in job posts.

Criminal history (Fair Chance Act). You cannot ask about or check criminal records until you have decided the applicant is otherwise qualified, and job ads cannot say "no felons" or similar. The 2025 amendments, which apply to employers with 15 or more employees from July 1, 2026 and to smaller employers from January 1, 2027, add more: the check must also wait until you make an offer conditioned on the record, and before rejecting someone because of an adult conviction you need a legitimate business reason, must tell them which record you are relying on, hold the job open for at least two business days so they can explain, and then give a written decision.

New-hire report: send it to DCS within 20 days of the start date. Rehires count if they were gone for at least 60 consecutive days. Report online through DCS Online (in Secure Access Washington), or by fax, mail or phone. Late reports can cost $25 per employee per month. See new-hire reporting.
Paid sick leave notice: give each new employee a one-time written notice (paper or electronic) of their right to paid sick leave, how much they earn, when they can use it, and that retaliation is prohibited. After that, a statement at least monthly of hours earned, used and available. Pay stubs can serve as the monthly statement.
Paid Family and Medical Leave: decide whether to withhold the employee share of the premium from pay. Premiums you do not withhold cannot be collected from the employee in later pay periods.
Workers' compensation: new hires are covered through your account with the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I), unless you are self-insured (see below).

Noncompetes. Through June 29, 2027, a noncompete with an employee is void unless the employee's annualized earnings exceed the yearly threshold ($126,858.83 in 2026; $317,147.09 for independent contractors), the terms were disclosed in writing no later than when the offer was accepted, and, if signed after the start date, the employee received something extra for it. A noncompete longer than 18 months is presumed unreasonable. A 2026 law goes further: from June 30, 2027, every noncompete in Washington is void no matter when it was signed, offering or threatening one becomes a violation, and by October 1, 2027 you must make reasonable efforts to tell current and former employees and contractors whose noncompetes are still running that they are void. Nonsolicitation and confidentiality agreements are not noncompetes under the law.

Leave: sick leave and Paid Family and Medical Leave

Paid sick leave covers employers of every size. Non-exempt employees earn at least 1 hour for every 40 hours worked, starting on the first day, and can use it after 90 calendar days. Up to 40 unused hours carry over to the next year. Employees who are properly classified as exempt executive, administrative or professional employees, and outside salespeople, are excluded from the sick leave law, which matters for many salaried tech roles. Leave covers the employee's or a family member's illness or preventive care, a health-related closure of the workplace or a child's school, domestic violence leave reasons, and (since July 27, 2025) preparing for or attending an immigration proceeding. You can ask for verification only for absences longer than three workdays. See paid sick leave laws.

Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave in 2026
Item	2026 rule
Premium	1.13% of gross wages (not tips), up to the Social Security wage cap ($184,500 in 2026)
Employee share	Up to 71.43% of the premium may be withheld from pay, or you can pay it for them
Employer share	Paid by employers with 50 or more employees; employers with fewer than 50 do not owe it
Benefit	Up to 90% of weekly pay, capped at $1,647 a week for 2026
Length	Up to 12 weeks of family or medical leave, 16 weeks combined, 18 weeks with a pregnancy complication
Who qualifies	Workers with 820 hours in their qualifying period
Your duties	Display the poster, file a quarterly report and premiums (even with no payroll), and send the state notice within 5 business days of learning an employee had a qualifying event

Job protection under PFML is expanding. From January 1, 2026, an employee who has worked for you at least 180 calendar days is entitled to return to the same or an equivalent job if you have 25 or more employees. The threshold drops to 15 employees in 2027 and to 8 employees in 2028. When job protection applies, you must keep their health coverage the same as if they were working (they keep paying their usual share of the premium), and once they have been on leave for 14 days you must tell them in writing when job protection ends and when they are due back. Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave can count against the PFML job-protected time. See paid family leave by state.

Washington also collects WA Cares long-term care premiums through the same quarterly report. Employees pay all of it: 0.58% of wages in 2026, with no wage cap. Employees with an approved exemption must notify you, and you then stop withholding it.

Final pay

The statute (RCW 49.48.010) says wages owed to an employee who stops working, whether by discharge or by quitting, are due at the end of the established pay period. L&I tells employers the final paycheck must be paid on or before the next regularly scheduled payday. There is no faster deadline for a firing. You cannot hold back a final check because keys, a laptop or other equipment were not returned, and deductions from final pay follow specific rules. See final paycheck laws.

Vacation and other paid time off: L&I treats vacation, personal holidays and severance as voluntary benefits. Washington law does not require you to pay out unused vacation; your written policy or agreement decides. See unused PTO payout.
Paid sick leave: cashing out the balance at separation is generally not required. If you rehire the person within 12 months, you must restore any balance you did not pay out.

Minimum wage, overtime and exempt salaries

Washington pay floors set by L&I
Rule	2026	2027 (from January 1)
State minimum wage	$17.13 an hour	$17.73 an hour
Exempt salary, employers with 1 to 50 employees	$1,541.70 a week ($80,168.40 a year)	$1,595.70 a week
Exempt salary, employers with 51 or more employees	$1,541.70 a week	$1,773 a week

Overtime is 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a 7-day workweek, for employers of every size. Washington has no daily overtime rule for most jobs, and employees cannot waive overtime. Being salaried is not enough for an exemption: the employee must also meet the job duties test and the salary floor above. In 2026, exempt computer professionals may instead be paid hourly at no less than $59.96 an hour. L&I's 2027 rules also replace the state's two duties tests with one that is closer to the federal test. Several cities, including Seattle, set a higher minimum wage than the state. See exempt vs non-exempt and overtime rules.

Other things to know

Discrimination: the Washington Law Against Discrimination covers employers with 8 or more employees, a lower bar than the federal 15. See HR laws by company size.
Layoffs: Washington has its own WARN law (RCW 49.45, effective July 27, 2025). Employers with 50 or more employees in the state, not counting part-time employees, must give 60 days' written notice to the Employment Security Department (ESD) and affected employees (or their union) before a business closing or a mass layoff affecting 50 or more employees. ESD's guidance also asks for notice to the local chief elected official. See WARN Act layoffs.
Workers' compensation: you must buy coverage through L&I's State Fund, or be approved by L&I to self-insure. See workers' compensation requirements.
Posters: L&I requires three free posters (Job Safety and Health Law, Your Rights as a Worker, and Notice to Employees about job injuries) plus the federal posters and the PFML poster. For remote employees, mail them a set or email them a link to the posters, and keep a note of what you sent and when. See labor law posters.
Unemployment information at separation: state law requires you to post ESD's unemployment notice and to make that information available to employees when they become unemployed.

Common questions

Do I need a salary range in Washington job posts if I have fewer than 15 employees?

No. The posting requirement in RCW 49.58.110 applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Once you reach 15, every posting needs the wage scale or salary range and a general description of benefits.

Do salaried software engineers get Washington paid sick leave?

Only if they are non-exempt. Employees properly classified as exempt executive, administrative or professional employees are excluded from the paid sick leave law, but in 2026 an exempt employee must earn at least $1,541.70 a week and meet the duties test.

Can a Washington employer still use noncompete agreements?

Until June 29, 2027, only for employees earning more than the yearly threshold ($126,858.83 in 2026) and only with proper written disclosure. From June 30, 2027, all noncompetes are void, and employers must try to notify affected current and former workers by October 1, 2027.

Does Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave protect my employee's job?

In 2026, yes, if you have 25 or more employees and the employee has worked for you at least 180 days. The employer size drops to 15 in 2027 and 8 in 2028.

How MambaHR handles this

MambaHR keeps your employee records and hiring pipeline and does the HR admin itself, with a person approving the decisions that matter. Job posts go out with pay ranges, leave requests are checked against federal FMLA eligibility with Washington's Paid Family and Medical Leave program cited for a person to decide how they combine, and at an exit MambaHR removes system access and works out final pay under Washington's rules for a person to approve.

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Sources

Last reviewed October 2, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and exceptions apply, so check the sources above or an employment lawyer before you act on a specific case.