Minimum Wage in Washington State – weekly, monthly, annually

In Washington State, the minimum wage is $14.49 an hour, up from $13.69 in 2021. That is $7.24 above the federal minimum wage of $7.25.

There are regions that have their own minimum wage requirements. In Seattle, for example, the minimum hourly wage for employers with 501 or more employees, the rate is $17.27, and for smaller employers with 500 or fewer employees, the minimum wage is $17.27 if the employees have no medical benefits, and $15.75 an hour if the employer covers medical benefits.

In Washington, there’s no tip credit allowed, and all service charges and tips must be paid to the employees directly.

Washington employers can pay minors ages 14 and 15 years old 85% of the state’s minimum wage, and certain student workers, apprentices, student learners, and certificated workers with disabilities may be paid 75% of the state’s minimum pay.

Washington’s minimum wage and overtime regulations apply to most jobs, including agricultural positions. Agricultural workers, however, are eligible for overtime pay after working over 55 hours a week.

But there are employees in Washington that get paid less than the state’s minimum level. Some agricultural workers, casual domestic workers, like babysitters, some students, and outside salespeople are exempt from Washington’s minimum wage rules. just to name a few categories.

Young workers up to the age of 18 that have a new job may receive only  $4.25 an hour, but for no longer than 90 days.

Washington Paycheck Calculator

This Washington Paycheck Calculator displays your hourly pay translated to weekly, annual, and monthly earnings.

How to use this Washington paycheck calculator

1. Start by entering your hourly pay.
2. Then, enter how many hours you work each week.
3. You’ll see that the paycheck calculator displays your hourly pay in annual, weekly, or monthly equivalents.

How does the Washington paycheck calculator work?

Sometimes, workers that are paid by the hour can only with difficulty understand what their hourly pay means in terms of annual, weekly, or monthly earnings.

For workers who are paid periodically, like once a month or a week, things work differently. They will periodically get a paycheck at the end of their work period.

To make things easier for hourly workers, we designed this paycheck calculator that instantly displays how their hourly pay translates to weekly, monthly, and annual wages.

It works quite simply: the only thing you need to do is put in your hourly pay and how many hours you make in a work week. If you do that, the paycheck calculator will instantly display your hourly pay transformed into annual, monthly, or weekly earnings.

These results are generated by multiplying your base hourly pay by the number of hours, weeks, or months you work annually, assuming you work 40 hours a week.

Minimum Wage in Washington

So the minimum wage in Washington is $14.49 per hour, translating to $115.92 per day, $579.60 per week (at 40 work hours), $2511.60 per month, and $30,139.20 per year.

As we saw before, not all Washington employees will receive the state’s minimum rate. Nonprofit volunteer workers, students, and domestic workers are often exempt from Washington’s minimum pay and/or overtime regulations.

White collar jobs held by administrative, executive, or professional workers may be exempt from the state’s minimum wage requirements, and this also applies to outside salespeople and computer professionals.

To qualify for exempt status from minimum wage and overtime, the employee must make at least $1,014.30 per week (so, $52,743.60 per year), or 1.75 times Washington’s minimum wage.

Washington minimum wage exemptions

Like in other states, some worker groups don’t qualify for Washington’s overtime or minimum wage payments. The following list is not a full overview of exempt groups, but it shows the main categories.

• Persons working voluntarily for educational, charitable, religious, and nonprofit organizations are exempt.
• Persons that hold public offices and individuals working in forest protection or fire prevention settings are exempt as well.
• Newspaper vendors and carriers are exempt, as are farm interns at small farms with certificates to do so.
• In Washington, new employees younger than 18 can get a “training wage” of only $4.25 during their first 90 days.
• Full-time students engaged in work-learn programs from universities or colleges can be paid 85% of Washington’s minimum wage, so $12,32. The job needs to be part-time and no more than 20 hours a week.
• Business professionals, administrators, executives, and computer specialists making no less than $1,014.30 per week and outside salespersons are exempt as well in Washington.
• In Washington, employers may pay young employees (up to the age of 18) a training pay of only $4.25 an hour for maximally 90 days.

FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) regulations require that all Washington employers clearly display state-approved, informative posters in highly visible locations that explain all about state and federal minimum wage and overtime laws.

Washington overtime wage

If, in Washington, employees work over 40 hours in a week, employers must pay them 1.5 times their usual hourly pay for those overtime hours. Washington State has no limit on daily overtime hours.

So that means that, in Washington, the overtime wage for qualifying hours is at least $21.73. There are, however, some exemptions. The following is not a complete overview, but it lists the main categories.

• Computer specialists (analysts, programmers, software engineers) are exempt from Washington’s overtime regulations, as are traveling and outside salespersons.
• Persons working voluntarily for charitable, religious, nonprofit, or educational organizations are exempt.
• Executives, administrators, or business professionals making at least $52,743.60 annually also hold exempt status in Washington.
• Agricultural workers qualify for overtime pay only if they work more than 55 hours in a week.

Nothing in this post constitutes legal advice. So, if you have any questions about Washington’s minimum wage and/or overtime laws or compliance, please consult a tax professional or tax attorney.