• Washington's employment laws seek to ensure worker safety.construction workers image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
  
  Washington has employment laws that attempt guarantee the heath and safety of the state's workers. These laws are administered by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. The department has approximately 2,700 workers as of September 2010 and more than 20 offices around the state to help serve the state's 3.2 million member workforce.
  
  

Overtime

• Most employees in Washington must receive overtime pay of one and one-half time their hourly pay if they work more than 40 hours in a 7-day week. An employer may demand that an employee work overtime even if it is the employee's scheduled day off. Registered and licensed practical nurses are not subject to the requirement to work overtime.
  
  

Meals and Breaks

• Workers must receive a 10-minute break for every 4 hours worked, and a break must come no later than the third hour of the worker's shift, according to Washington employment law. Workers are also granted a 30-minute meal break if they work a shift of more than 5 hours. The meal break cannot occur until 2 hours into the shift.
  
  

Payment Method

• Employers may pay a worker by direct deposit if there is no fee charged to the employee. If a fee is charged, then the employer must offer the worker the option of receiving his wages by payroll check, according to Section 49.46.010(2) of the Revised Code of Washington.
  
  

State Minimum Wage

• Washington requires employers to pay a minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The state minimum wage of September 2010 is 8.55 per hour. However, 14- and 15-year-old employees may receive a wage of 85 percent of the state minimum wage ($ 7.27 per hour).