Washington state's workers will have a happier 2022, with a higher minimum wage, more generous overtime pay, and overtime protections for farmworkers.

Effective January 1, the state's minimum wage jumped to $14.49 per hour, up 80 cents from the 2021 level.

Initiative 1433, passed in 2016, pegged the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, so workers get an automatic raise when inflation goes up. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said the 5.83% price increase was due to rising gas and food prices, as well as higher housing and furnishing costs.

The state minimum wage applies to workers aged 16 and older. Under state law, employers may pay 85% of the minimum wage to workers aged 14-15. For 2022, the wage for that younger age group will be $12.32 per hour.

Thanks to I-1433, all workers in Washington state also receive paid sick leave — one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked. Workers may also carry over up to 40 hours of unused sick leave from one year to the next.

This turned out to be a critically important benefit as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on.

Also effective January 1, the state's workers gained better overtime protections as the state's overtime pay standard phases in a new salary threshold.

The state sets an income threshold, and workers falling below that level must get time-and-a-half overtime pay for all hours worked beyond 40 per week. The new threshold is now higher — 1.75 times the state minimum wage, or $1,014.30 per week. A higher threshold means that more workers will be eligible for overtime pay.

Farmworkers will also be getting overtime pay for the first time, under a new law passed by the state legislature last year. The law includes a three-year phase-in schedule, incrementally reducing the number of hours worked by farmworkers before they are entitled to overtime pay over the next three years.

Workers who have questions about the wages or other rights they're entitled to under the new rules should visit the State of Washington L&I website: https://www.lni.wa.gov/.

Seattle and SeaTac have enacted their own minimum wage ordinances, with pay at a higher rate than the state. Seattle workers can visit the Seattle Office of Labor Standards website (https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards). SeaTac workers should go to the SeaTac city website (https://www.seatacwa.gov/) and search for employment standards.