Last month, the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) announced the new Washington state minimum wage for 2021. As of Jan. 1, 2021 the state minimum wage will be $13.69 an hour, up from $13.50 an hour in 2020. The increase in minimum wage will impact salary thresholds for overtime exempt employees.

In December 2019, L&I passed new rules to update our state’s overtime regulations and require employers to provide overtime benefits to certain salaried employees who previously were exempt. The Minimum Wage Act (MWA) stipulates that employees working over 40 hours a week receive overtime benefits. However, the MWA exempts certain employees from its requirements, including executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) workers earning above the current salary threshold. EAP staff includes individuals with managerial duties, employees completing non-manual office work, or those performing duties that require advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning.

Based on the new minimum wage threshold, L&I has calculated the salary thresholds that will take effect Jan. 1, 2021 as follows:

• For small businesses (those with 1-50 employees), the threshold is 1.5 times the state minimum wage at $821.40 a week or $42,712.80 a year
• For large businesses (those with 51 or more employees), the threshold is 1.75 times the state minimum wage at $958.30 a week or $49,831.60 a year

You can read more about the updated overtime rules on the WSDA Blog: New State Overtime Regulations.

L&I has also put together a series of tools to help employers navigate the new overtime regulations:

• Webinar: Overtime Exemptions Training Sessions
• Executive Administrative Professional Exemptions Online Course
• Salary Threshold Implementation Chart