TUMWATER, Wash. (AP) - Washington state’s minimum wage will increase to $11 an hour on Sunday, the first of a multistep increase approved by voters last month.
Initiative 1433 incrementally raises the state’s rate over the next four years to $13.50 an hour. The new law also requires employers to provide paid sick leave starting Jan. 1, 2018.
The new minimum wage applies to all jobs, including those in agriculture. Workers who are younger than 16 years old can be paid 85 percent of the adult minimum wage - $9.35 per hour - next year.
For employers in cities that already have higher minimum wages - Seattle, Tacoma and the city of SeaTac - the local minimum wage rate will apply as long as it is higher than the state minimum.
Under the new law, the statewide minimum wage will increase to $11.50 in 2018, $12 in 2019 and will hit $13.50 an hour in 2020.
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