WASHINGTON WAGE CLAIM PROJECT

Attorneys at the Washington Wage Claim Project (WWCP) are dedicated to providing legal aid to low wage workers who have suffered wage & hour violations. Some of the types of claims we handle include:

· Unpaid overtime wages

· Unpaid piece-rate wages

· Unpaid minimum wages 

· Off-the-clock work

· Meal and rest break violations

· Misclassification of employees as independent contractors​

· Construction liens on private and public projects

Wage and hour laws are very protective of workers.  This is especially true in Washington State.  Low wage workers come into court on equal footing with their employers, no matter how powerful the employer may be outside of court. 

An employer who has violated these laws must pay the employee's wages, interest, and, in many cases, a penalty.  In addition, the employer must also pay the employee's attorney fees.  This allows us to represent low wage workers with wage claims without requiring payment from the workers and without taking a percentage of their back pay when the case is over.  The primary mission of the WWCP is to provide low wage workers with meaningful access to justice. 

Our project is dedicated to the memory of Elsie Parrish, a Wenatchee hotel maid whose fight to enforce Washington's 1913 minimum wage law began in Chelan County Superior Court.  It resulted in one of the most important 20th Century legal victories for workers' rights in Parrish v. West Coast Hotel, 300 U.S. 379 (1937), affirming 185 Wash. 581 (1936), which established the right of states to regulate minimum wages and led to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Our Washington Supreme Court has repeatedly observed "Washington’s long and proud history of being a pioneer in the protection of employee rights.”  ​See Drinkwitz v. Alliant Techsystems, Inc., 140 Wn.2d 291 (2000).  Elsie Parrish is at the heart of that long and proud history.