Wage Theft Ordinance 10th Anniversary
WTO April 1, 2015
Seattle’s Wage Theft Ordinance goes into effect. The ordinance requires employers to pay all wages and tips owed to employees within Seattle city limits.
OLS April 2015
The City of Seattle’s newly created Office of Labor Standards (OLS) was authorized to investigate workers’ complaints of wage theft - the nonpayment of wages and tips.
LAW December 2015
Seattle's Wage Theft Prevention and Harmonization Ordinance was passed in December 2015. This updated and standardized enforcement procedures for Seattle's labor standards.
Wage Theft Ordinance Data
Seattle's Wage Theft Ordinance went into effect on April 1, 2015.
April 1, 2025 marks ten years of the Wage Theft Ordinance providing protections against wage theft by requiring payment for all compensation owed for work performed within Seattle city limits, requirement payment on a regular pay day, and to provide certain written notice to employees about their pay information and rights.
Seattle's Wage Theft Prevention and Labor Standards Harmonization Ordinance was passed in December 2015. The ordinance aims to strengthen wage theft enforcement and other labor standards.
How it works
- The ordinance covers employees who work in Seattle for more than two hours in a two-week period.
- Employers must pay employees on a regular pay day, which is no more than once a month.
- Employers must provide employees with written notice of their employment information, including their pay rate(s), hours worked, and deductions.
- Employers must keep payroll records for at least three years.
- Employers must display a Labor Standards Workplace Poster in English, Spanish, and other languages spoken at the workplace.
- The law requires employers to pay employees “all compensation owed” by reason of employment. Tips are the property of the employee or employees receiving the tips, including employees who receive tips through a valid tip pool.
Additional information
- The Wage Theft Law set forth a three-year statute of limitations for employees to bring charges.
- The Wage Theft Ordinance introduced additional notice requirements that went above and beyond those required under Washington state wage and hour laws.
OLS provides Fact Sheets on the Wage Theft Ordinance, including on common wage theft topics like service charges and meal and rest breaks. These documents are available on our Resources page.
Councilmember Burgess and Mayor McGinn shake hands over wage theft legislation
City officials mark enactment of wage theft ordinance
Workers Protesting Wage Theft
Councilmember Burgess and Mayor McGinn are joined by community advocates for the signing of legislation strengthening penalties against wage theft.
Former Mayor McGinn
Seattle City Council voted unanimously to make wage theft, the intentional failure to pay an employee for work, a criminal offense
