Seattle, WA Employment Preemption: Minimum Wage Preemption (2026)
Key Facts
- Code section
- SMC 14.19
- 2025 rate
- $20.76 per hour
- Coverage trigger
- 2+ hours biweekly
- Recordkeeping
- 3 years payroll
- Enforcer
- Office of Labor Standards
Summary
Seattle's Minimum Wage Ordinance SMC 14.19 sets a citywide floor well above Washington's, reaching $20.76 per hour in 2025 for all employers with a single rate after small-business tip and benefit credits sunset in 2025.
Minimum Wage — Ordinance: SMC 14.19; Rules: SHRR Chapter 90. Seattle's Minimum Wage Ordinance went into effect on April 1, 2015. The Minimum Wage Ordinance sets the minimum wage for employees working within city limits. The minimum wage increases every year on January 1. Seattle's Minimum Wage starting January 1, 2025: Starting January 1, 2025, all employers, regardless of schedule size, will be required to pay the same minimum wage. Small employers will no longer be able to count tip and/or payments toward an employee's medical benefit plan toward an employee's minimum compensation requirements under Seattle's Minimum Wage Ordinance. The minimum wage rates for the 2025 and 2026 calendar years are set forth in the table below. 2025 Minimum Wage $20.76. 2026 Minimum Wage $21.30. OLS announces the upcoming year's minimum wage increase by the Fall of each year. The minimum wage will increase to reflect the rate of inflation, based on the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Area Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).
Full Breakdown
Seattle phased in a $15 minimum wage starting 2014, indexed annually for CPI. As of January 1, 2025, the rate is $20.76 per hour for all employers regardless of size, eliminating the prior small-employer schedule and tip/medical-benefit credit. The Office of Labor Standards (OLS) enforces. Coverage extends to anyone working two or more hours in Seattle in any two-week period, including remote, gig, and visiting workers. Employers must post the OLS notice, keep three years of payroll records, and provide itemized pay statements showing rate, hours, and deductions.
Violations & Fines
Underpaying, miscoding hours, or retaliating against complainants triggers OLS investigations, back wages with interest, liquidated damages equal to the unpaid amount, civil penalties, and possible business-license consequences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are tipped workers paid less?
Does it cover remote workers?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Seattle
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