Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

Re: Late paycheck

You are in a tough spot, because, although you have a legal right to be paid on time, if you try to enforce that right by reporting your employer to the Department of Labor & Industries, the employer may well find an excuse to fire you. The fact is that if your employer fires you for exercising your statutory right (to be paid on time), you can bring a further claim against them for your lost pay (and benefits, if benefits are provided). However, you will still have to fight for that through the legal process.

For this reason, I would urge you to find another job as soon as possible. If your employer is paying you and your coworkers late, in my mind an evil thing to do to people who are trying to live on a fast food wage, anyway, it may well be because the company is having money problems. It might be time to look elsewhere anyway. Once you have another job, if your employer still owes you wages and does not timely pay them, turn to the Dept. of Labor & Industries for help in collecting.