2026 Washington Employment Law Update: Hiring Restrictions, Pay Transparency, Leave, and Workplace Safety

Numerous revisions to substantive laws will impact Pacific Northwest employers in 2026. These laws may necessitate changes to Washington employers’ policies and procedures.

What You Need to Know:

• Changes to Hiring Practices: New restrictions limit when employers can inquire about an applicant’s criminal background and impose conditions on taking adverse actions based on conviction history.

• Broader Leave and Accommodation Rights: Eligibility requirements for family and medical leave have been lowered, with additional entitlements established for individuals affected by hate crimes, pregnancy, and lactation.

• More Pay Transparency and Workplace Safety Rules: Employers must address stricter requirements for job posting transparency and implement updated safety protocols for employees working alone in certain industries.

This Insight highlights the most significant new legal obligations for employers in Washington, affecting many stages of the employment relationship. Unless indicated otherwise, the laws discussed below took effect on January 1, 2026. For a complete picture of the many changes affecting employers in the Pacific Northwest, please also see our companion piece covering new laws in Oregon.

Hiring

Changes to Criminal Background Check Restrictions

We have previously reported on HB 1747, which significantly amends the Washington Fair Chance Act (WFCA).

In a nutshell, the WFCA prohibits employers from obtaining any information about an applicant’s criminal record until the employer determines that the applicant is otherwise qualified for the position and makes a conditional offer of employment to the applicant. In addition, employers cannot implement a policy or practice that automatically or categorically excludes an applicant with a criminal record. This includes rejecting an applicant solely because they failed to disclose their criminal record prior to the initial determination that they are qualified. A “criminal record,” as defined by the WFCA, now includes not only the actual record of an arrest or citation for criminal conduct, but also “information about” an arrest or citation. The phrase “information about” is not defined in the amendments.

The WFCA also limits an employer’s ability to take an adverse employment action (e.g., suspend, terminate, or refuse to hire) based on an applicant’s or an employee’s adult conviction record. Employers can take adverse action only when the employer has a legitimate business reason for doing so, meaning the employer believes in good faith that the nature of the criminal conduct in the conviction record will:

• have a negative impact on the employee’s or applicant’s fitness or ability to perform the position sought or held; or
• harm or cause injury to people, property, business reputation, or business assets, and the employer has considered and documented certain factors, including:
  • the seriousness of the conduct underlying the conviction;
  • the number and types of convictions;
  • the time that has elapsed since the conviction (excluding periods of incarceration);
  • the specific duties of the position;
  • the place and manner in which the position will be performed (e.g., whether it is a public-facing role); and
  • any verifiable information related to the individual’s rehabilitation, good conduct, work experience, education, and training, as provided by the individual.

Certain notification and procedural requirements apply before and after the employer takes adverse action.

Additional guidance is available in our previous article on this subject.

This law takes effect July 1, 2026, for employers with 15 or more employees, and January 1, 2027, for employers with fewer than 15 employees.

Heightened Risk for Claims Based on Wage Range Law Violations

A recent Washington Supreme Court opinion dramatically increases employers’ risk of litigation exposure for job postings that do not comply with Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (EPOA).

The EPOA requires employers that have at least 15 employees, with at least one Washington-based employee, to include the wage scale, salary range, benefits, and other disclosures in covered job postings. Job applicants and employees can bring EPOA claims against employers with noncompliant job postings and may seek up to $5,000 in damages plus attorneys’ fees.

In Branson v. Washington Fine Wine & Spirits, LLC, the employer, Total Wine, argued that only individuals who apply for jobs in “good faith” or have a “bona fide” intention of getting the job should be permitted to file an EPOA claim for noncompliant wage statements. The Washington Supreme Court rejected this interpretation, holding that under the EPOA, a “job applicant” is “a person who applies to a job posting, regardless of their subjective intent in doing so.” In other words, it does not matter whether the individual wanted the job or was qualified for it.

Legislators provided some insulation against EPOA claims related to job postings through amendments enacted in 2025, requiring job applicants and employees to provide written notice of noncompliance to employers before filing a claim. This allows employers to avoid liability if they correct (“cure”) the noncompliant posting within five business days of receiving the written notice. However, this right to cure is slated to sunset on July 27, 2027, meaning that plaintiffs will have an easier path to sue employers under the EPOA after this date.

Labor/Union Updates

Extended Unemployment Benefits Related to Strikes

Next, SB 5041 removes previous restrictions on unemployment benefits for striking workers, extending benefits to individuals who are unemployed due to:

• a strike following the expiration of a specified 15- to 21-day disqualification period and a one-week waiting period (provided that the strike is not determined to be prohibited by federal or state law in a final judgment), and
• an employer-initiated lockout resulting from a strike against another employer in a multi-employer bargaining unit.

The new provisions stipulate that workers who are unemployed due to a strike may receive up to six weeks of benefits. Payments of such benefits will be charged to the employer’s experience rating account. The bill also adds a new provision to the law on unemployment compensation, stipulating that benefits must be repaid if a worker receives backpay for any week during which benefits were paid.

Time Off/Leave/Accommodations

New Entitlements for Victims of Hate Crimes

With the passage of SB 5101, employees can now request reasonable unpaid leave or a safety accommodation under Washington’s Domestic Violence Leave Act if they or their family member are the victim of a hate crime. A “hate crime” is defined as the commission, attempted commission, or alleged commission of (i) assault, (ii) physical damage to or destruction of property, or (iii) threats to a specific person or group of persons that place such person(s) in reasonable fear of harm to person or property where the act is committed based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability.

Paid Family and Medical Leave Broadened

Significantly amending Washington’s Paid Family Medical Leave Act (PFMLA), as discussed here, HB 1213 implements the following changes:

• Reducing the threshold for an employer to be covered by the PFMLA to expand the number of covered employers over a three-year period. Whether employers are required to comply with PFMLA is based on how many employees they have, adjusted annually as follows:
  • 2026: 25 or more employees
  • 2027: 15 or more employees
  • 2028 and onward: eight or more employees
• Removing the minimum-hours-worked threshold for employee eligibility; now only 180 days of employment are required.
• Reducing the minimum period for employees to qualify for benefits from eight to four consecutive hours.
• Allowing employers to count unpaid federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave toward the total amount of leave an employee would be entitled to under the PFMLA in cases where the employee was eligible for state benefits but did not apply for and receive those benefits, with related notice requirements for employers.
• Specifying that job restoration rights are forfeited if an employee does not return on the earlier of (i) the first scheduled workday following FMLA or PFML leave or (ii) the first scheduled workday following intermittent or continuous 16 weeks or 18 weeks of leave.
  • Updated state guidance summarizes these changes and notes that exceptions to job protection also include top earners if restoration would cause the employer confirmed “substantial economic harm.”
• Requiring employers to provide notice of anticipated expiration of job protection for leave exceeding two workweeks or 14 workdays.
  • See here for further details regarding notice requirements.

Expanded Pregnancy and Lactation Accommodation Obligations

Effective January 1, 2027, SB 5217 will require all employers to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees, as well as paid lactation breaks that are in addition to meal and rest periods. The current law requiring workplace pregnancy accommodations only covers employers with more than 15 employees and remains in effect throughout 2026.

As in the existing law, the definition of a “reasonable accommodation” lists a number of per se accommodations that an employer must provide to pregnant employees unless they would pose an undue burden, including, but not limited to:

• providing frequent, longer, or flexible restroom breaks;
• modifying no food/drink policy;
• restructuring a job, work schedule, reassignment to a vacant position, or acquiring or modifying equipment or an employee’s workstation;
• providing seating or allowing the employee to sit more frequently;
• providing temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position;
• providing assistance with manual labor and limits on lifting;
• offering flexible scheduling for prenatal and postpartum visits; and
• providing reasonable break time to express breast milk, as needed, for two years after childbirth in a private location other than a bathroom.

In contrast to current law, the new law will not include a provision permitting employers to request that an employee provide written certification from her treating health care professional regarding the need for such accommodation.

Additionally, the new law will require that employees who take breaks for breast milk expression—including time needed to travel to a designated location—must be paid for such breaks at their regular pay rate. Such breaks are in addition to required meal and rest breaks, and employees may not be required to use paid leave for the breaks.

Employers have a full year to prepare for new state requirements for lactation and pregnancy accommodation, some of which may already be required under federal law, and may anticipate updated guidance from the state’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).

Workplace Violence/Safety

Safety Standards Updated for Isolated Workers

Hotels, motels, retailers, security guard entities, and property services contractors that employ at least one “isolated employee” (a janitor, security guard, hotel or motel housekeeper, or room service attendant working under certain circumstances) must implement amendments to existing safety standards for those isolated employees, under HB 1524. The most significant of these involves providing portable devices (“panic buttons”) to isolated employees that permit them to easily alert a co-worker, security guard, or other responder in the event of a safety concern. Existing law has required such devices since 2019; the legislation narrows covered employers’ obligations regarding panic buttons by specifying that they are mandatory only for “isolated” workers. The amendments also add recordkeeping obligations and require employers to train workers and managers on how to use the panic buttons.

L&I will investigate if a complaint is filed or if the agency has reason to believe an employer has violated the law. Employers are subject to penalties of $1,000 for each willful violation and up to $10,000 for repeat willful violations.

Wage and Hour

Flexible Meal and Rest Breaks for Hospital Workers

Washington law mandates specific requirements for employees who are employed by hospitals, involved in direct patient care activities or clinical services, and either receive an hourly wage or are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. These employees must take uninterrupted meal and rest periods unless there is an emergent foreseeable circumstance or an emergent clinical circumstance, defined in RCW 49.28.130 and RCW 49.12.480, respectively. These employees may also agree with their employer to combine meal periods and rest periods for any work period when the employee is entitled to one or more meal periods and more than one rest period (the employee can revoke this agreement at any time).

Lastly, HB 1879 amends RCW 49.12.480 to permit hospital employees to waive meal periods and the timing requirements for meal and rest periods, under certain circumstances. Starting January 1, 2026, an employee and employer can agree to:

• waive a meal period for shifts under eight hours;
• waive a second or third meal period, so long as at least one meal period is provided; or
• waive timing requirements for meal and rest periods, so long as the meal period starts no earlier than the third hour worked and no later than the second-to-last hour scheduled.

The above waivers must be voluntary and in writing (or electronic record), and the employee or employer can revoke any of the waivers at any time. The waivers must include a summary of the applicable L&I rule governing meal and rest periods and, if applicable, inform the employee that the employee may have other rights under the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement. For unionized workforces, the written waiver must be submitted on a form agreed to between the employer and the union.

Employers must include in their quarterly reports to L&I the total number of waived meal and rest periods. A waived meal or rest period is not a missed meal or rest period for purposes of reporting and enforcement requirements.

What Washington Employers Should Do Now

• Review job applications/postings and hiring practices for compliance, including the updated provisions prohibiting age discrimination and new WFCA obligations.
• Prepare templates for pre-adverse and adverse action notices that comply with the new WFCA requirements.
• Review discipline and termination policies for WFCA compliance.
• Train managers, human resources professionals, and any other employees involved in hiring or adverse employment actions on these new requirements.
• Review Washington job postings (both internal and external, such as those posted on third-party sites) for compliance.
• Implement a process for receiving and responding to written notices of noncompliance with Washington’s EPOA, including correcting job postings within five business days.
• Review leave policies in light of the expanded PFMLA and domestic violence leave provisions.
• Make sure administrators analyze PFMLA obligations in conjunction with the federal FMLA and implement procedural adjustments as necessary with respect to communication with employees taking protected leave.
• If a hotel or motel operator, retailer, security guard company, or property services contractor provides isolated employees with mandated panic buttons, ensure such panic buttons meet the new activation and signal requirements, train workers on how to use the devices, and train managers and supervisors on responding to panic button alerts. Additionally, be sure to maintain records showing completion of such training, as well as records of purchase and use of such buttons.
• For health care employers covered by HB 1879, review your current meal, rest, and break policies and determine whether to allow waivers. If you choose to offer waivers to employees, take appropriate steps to obtain written consent and determine a method to track waived periods.

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For additional information about the issues discussed in this Insight, please contact the attorney(s) listed on this page or the Epstein Becker Green Employment, Labor & Workforce Management attorney who regularly handles your legal matters.

Staff Attorney Elizabeth A. Ledkovsky also contributed to the preparation of this Insight.