# Seattle restaurant pay rules (2026): wages, tips, scheduling and sick leave

*Guides · Mays Team · October 26, 2026*

![The card processing fee setting on a Seattle location's tip pool card in Mays: the deduction turned on at a set percentage of card tips, with Washington's rule that only the processor's actual percentage may come off](https://mays-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/site/blog__seattle-restaurant-pay-rules-2026__cover.b63f1bbce4.png)

Seattle's minimum wage is $21.30 an hour in 2026 and $22.14 from January 1, 2027, for every employer, whatever its size ([Seattle OLS, minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage)). Neither Seattle nor Washington lets tips count toward it, so a server's pay starts at the same rate as a cook's. The city adds a scheduling law for large food service companies and a sick leave law that gets more generous as an employer grows.

This page puts what a restaurant or café in Seattle owes in one place: the city's own rules first, then the Washington and federal rules that apply in Seattle as everywhere else in the state, two example weeks with the math shown, and what Mays does with each. Every figure links to the official page it comes from.

**Checked October 5, 2026:** we read every Seattle figure on this page on its official source that day. Seattle's minimum wage rises to $22.14, for tipped employees too, on January 1, 2027 ([Seattle OLS, minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage)).

*This is general information, not legal advice. Whether a rule applies can depend on your business's size and your own facts; the note at the end says more.*

## Seattle pay rules at a glance

As of October 26, 2026:

| Rule | Seattle |
| --- | --- |
| Minimum wage | **$21.30** an hour, since January 1, 2026 |
| Tipped employees | The full minimum wage: no tip credit in Seattle |
| Next change | **$22.14** minimum wage from **January 1, 2027** |
| Overtime | **1.5×** the regular rate after **40** hours in a workweek; no daily overtime (Washington and federal law) |
| Fair workweek scheduling | Seattle's law covers restaurants, if they are big enough; see Scheduling below |
| Paid sick leave | Seattle's own ordinance; see Paid sick leave below |

Sources: [Seattle OLS, 2026 minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/2026_OLS_MW_FactSheet_Contrast_ADA.pdf); [Seattle OLS, minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage); [US DOL, state minimum wage laws](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state); [Seattle OLS, Secure Scheduling](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/secure-scheduling); [Seattle OLS, paid sick and safe time](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/paid-sick-and-safe-time).

Who Seattle's rate covers: all employers, regardless of size, for employees working within Seattle city limits.

## Seattle vs. Washington: what the city changes

Where Seattle sets a rule of its own, it applies on top of Washington's, and an employer follows whichever gives the employee more. Here are the two side by side:

| Rule | Washington | Seattle |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Minimum wage | $17.13 ([WA L&I, minimum wage](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/minimum-wage/)) | **$21.30** ([Seattle OLS, 2026 minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/2026_OLS_MW_FactSheet_Contrast_ADA.pdf)) |
| Tipped employees | No tip credit ([WA L&I, minimum wage](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/minimum-wage/)) | No tip credit ([Seattle OLS, 2026 minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/2026_OLS_MW_FactSheet_Contrast_ADA.pdf)) |
| Next change (as of October 5, 2026) | $17.73 on January 1, 2027 ([WA L&I, minimum wage](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/minimum-wage/)) | $22.14 minimum wage from January 1, 2027 ([Seattle OLS, minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage)) |
| Paid sick leave | 1 hour per 40 hours worked ([WA L&I, paid sick leave](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/leave/paid-sick-leave/)) | 1 hour per 40 hours worked (Tier 1: 1–49 FTEs; Tier 2: 50–249 FTEs); 1 hour per 30 hours worked (Tier 3: 250+ FTEs) ([Seattle OLS, paid sick and safe time](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/paid-sick-and-safe-time)) |
| Fair workweek scheduling | No state law in our data | Its own law, which covers restaurants, if they are big enough ([Seattle OLS, Secure Scheduling](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/secure-scheduling)) |

Our data has no Seattle rule of its own on overtime, breaks, tip pools or food handler training, so the Washington and federal rules below apply in Seattle as they do across the state. For Washington's rules in full, with their own worked examples, see [Washington restaurant pay rules (2026)](https://www.mays.app/blog/washington-restaurant-pay-rules-2026).

## What you must pay tipped staff in Seattle

Seattle doesn't allow a tip credit ([Seattle OLS, 2026 minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/2026_OLS_MW_FactSheet_Contrast_ADA.pdf)), so servers, bartenders and baristas who get tips must be paid at least the full $21.30 an hour in wages, and their tips are all theirs, on top. There's no tipped cash wage and no weekly tip make-up to calculate. From January 1, 2027, that's $22.14 ([Seattle OLS, minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage)).

## What you must pay non-tipped staff in Seattle

Cooks, dishwashers, prep cooks, and cashiers or counter staff who don't get tips are paid like any other hourly employee:

- **At least $21.30 an hour for every hour worked**, and at least $22.14 from January 1, 2027 ([Seattle OLS, minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage)). No tip credit applies.
- **Overtime is at least 1.5 times their regular rate** for hours over 40 in a workweek. At $21.30 an hour, that's $31.95 ([US DOL, state minimum wage laws](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state)).

## Worked examples (made-up numbers)

The names, hours and tips below are made up. The rates are the ones that apply in Seattle as of October 26, 2026.

### A server's week

Sam is a server in Seattle. For a 30-hour week you pay him at least 30 × $21.30 = $639.00 in wages, before tips. His tips are all on top, whatever they come to; there's no make-up to calculate.

### A cook's week with overtime

Ana is a line cook in Seattle paid the minimum wage, $21.30 an hour. She works five 9-hour days: 45 hours.

|  | Hours | Rate | Pay |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Regular hours | 40 | $21.30 | $852.00 |
| Overtime hours (over 40) | 5 | $31.95 (1.5 × $21.30) | $159.75 |
| **Total** | **45** |  | **$1,011.75** |

Overtime is counted by the workweek, and hours can't be averaged across two weeks: a long week earns overtime even if the next one is short ([US DOL, overtime](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime)). Bonuses can change the rate too; see [Time clock, breaks and overtime: first-month payroll mistakes to avoid](https://www.mays.app/blog/time-clock-breaks-overtime-payroll-mistakes).

## Scheduling rules in Seattle

Seattle has a fair workweek law of its own, and it covers restaurants, if they are big enough ([Seattle OLS, Secure Scheduling](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/secure-scheduling)):

- **Who it covers:** Restaurants: covered if large. Hourly employees at retail and food-services establishments with 500+ employees worldwide; full-service restaurants must also have 40+ full-service locations worldwide.
- **What it requires:** Secure Scheduling Ordinance (SMC 14.22; SHRR Ch. 120), enforced by the Office of Labor Standards. Written good-faith estimate of median hours and on-call expectations at hire, again every year, and after significant changes. Schedules 14 days ahead; workers may decline hours not on the posted schedule. Time-and-a-half for hours between closing and opening shifts less than 10 hours apart. Access to hours: available hours are posted for 3 days and offered to qualified current staff before hiring. Interactive process for schedule requests, which must be granted for major life events unless there is a bona fide business reason. Records kept 3 years.
- **Advance notice:** post schedules at least **14** days ahead.
- **Pay for changes:** For employer-requested changes after the schedule is posted: 1 hour of pay when hours are added or a shift's date or time changes. Half of the hours not worked when a worker is sent home early, or when an on-call worker is not called in. Exceptions apply.
- **Rest between shifts:** the law protects the worker who closes and then opens less than **10** hours later (a "clopening"); what it takes, consent or extra pay, is in "What it requires" above.

If your restaurant group is smaller than that, the law doesn't reach you. If it's covered, keep a record of every schedule you post and every change after it: the pay for changes is owed shift by shift.

## Paid sick leave in Seattle

Seattle has a paid sick leave ordinance of its own ([Seattle OLS, paid sick and safe time](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/paid-sick-and-safe-time)):

- **How it's earned:** 1 hour per 40 hours worked (Tier 1: 1–49 FTEs; Tier 2: 50–249 FTEs); 1 hour per 30 hours worked (Tier 3: 250+ FTEs).
- **Who it covers:** all employers with employees working in Seattle; tier set by full-time-equivalents worldwide.
- **What else it requires:** Seattle Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance (SMC 14.16). Unused hours carry over into the next year, up to 40 (Tier 1), 56 (Tier 2) or 72 (Tier 3; 108 for Tier 3 employers with PTO). Uses: the employee's or a family member's physical or mental health; domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking; the closure of a family member's school or place of care; a public-health closure of the workplace; at Tier 3, also any health or safety closure of the workplace.

Washington's paid sick leave law applies in Seattle too ([WA L&I, paid sick leave](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/leave/paid-sick-leave/)): Employees earn at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked, from their first day. Unused balances of 40 hours or less must carry over to the next year, and employees can use their leave from their 90th calendar day of work. Seattle and Tacoma have their own paid sick leave ordinances. For each term, how fast leave is earned, how much can be used, how much carries over and how soon a new hire can use it, follow whichever of the two is more generous.

## Tip pools, overtime and breaks in Seattle

These are Washington's rules, with the federal ones where Washington sets none, and they apply in Seattle as they do across the state:

- **Tip pools:** Washington has no tip credit. Employers may require tip pools or tip-outs, which may include non-serving staff such as kitchen staff and hourly leads, but not salaried-exempt managers or owners. Employees cannot be required to put in more than they received in tips. Employers may deduct only the tip's proportional share of card fees ([WA L&I, tips and service charges](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/tips-and-service-charges)). Under federal law, the business, its managers and supervisors never keep employees' tips, and with a tip credit a pool you require can include only staff who customarily and regularly receive tips ([US DOL, tips](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips)).
- **Service charges:** A business that provides food, beverages, entertainment or porterage, such as a restaurant, catering house, convention center or hotel, and adds an automatic service charge, including one labeled "gratuity", "delivery charge" or "porterage charge", must disclose on the itemized receipt and on any menu the percentage paid to the employees serving the customer (RCW 49.46.160). If nothing is disclosed, or the disclosure is unclear, the entire service charge must be paid to the employee who served the customer. What employees get from a service charge is on top of their hourly wages ([WA L&I, tips and service charges](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/tips-and-service-charges)).
- **Overtime:** Washington's law draws the same line as the federal one ([US DOL, state minimum wage laws](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state)): at least 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek, with no daily overtime, double time or seventh-day premium ([US DOL, overtime](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime)).
- **Meal breaks:** A 30-minute meal period for a shift of more than 5 hours, starting between the second and the fifth hour, and no more than 5 hours in a row without one. Another 30-minute meal period is due when someone works 3 or more hours past their scheduled shift, and one for each further 5 hours. It's paid if the employee has to stay on duty or on call on the premises, or is called back, and unpaid if they're free of all duties. Adults can waive it if they and the employer agree, and L&I can grant variances ([WAC 296-126-092](https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=296-126-092)).
- **Rest breaks:** A paid 10-minute rest break for each 4 hours worked, as close to the middle of that time as possible, and no more than 3 hours without one. Where the work allows, shorter breaks adding up to 10 minutes per 4 hours count instead. Employees can't waive rest breaks, and the employer can require them to stay on site ([WAC 296-126-092](https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=296-126-092)).
- **Minors' breaks:** Outside agriculture, 16- and 17-year-olds get an uninterrupted 30-minute meal break, with no more than 5 hours in a row without one, and a paid 10-minute rest break when working 4 hours or more, with no more than 3 hours without one. Under 16: a 30-minute meal break, with no more than 4 hours in a row without one, a paid 10-minute rest break, and no more than 2 hours in a row without a meal or rest break. Meal breaks come on top of rest breaks, and minors can't waive either ([WA L&I, youth breaks](https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/youth-employment/wages-rest-breaks-and-meal-periods)).

In Seattle, breaking the state's service-charge law is also a violation of the city's Wage Theft Ordinance, which the city's Office of Labor Standards enforces ([Seattle OLS, Wage Theft Q&A](https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/25_0930_WTO_QA_ADA.pdf)).

## Other rules that affect pay in Seattle

- **Food handler training:** Every food employee needs approved food-safety training. Who: anyone who works with unpackaged food, food equipment or utensils, or surfaces where unwrapped food is put; a new worker may work up to 14 days before getting the card if the employer provides food safety training ([WA DOH, food worker card](https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/food/food-worker-and-industry/food-worker-card)).

## How Mays handles this

Mays runs the schedule, time clock, tip pool and payroll export for each location. For a restaurant in Seattle, that means:

- **The minimum wage for the address.** Turn on Labor law compliance and Mays reads each location's minimum wage from its address: a location whose city is Seattle gets Seattle's $21.30. It warns you when a position's default wage, someone's hourly wage or a punch is below it, and never blocks the save. It switches to the new rate on January 1, 2027 by itself, and admins get a reminder 30 and 7 days before, listing the wages below the new rate.
- **Paid sick leave per location.** With Labor law compliance on, the Sick category under Scheduling → Settings → **Time off & PTO accrual** shows the paid sick leave law at each location's address, and **Apply these rules** fills in its figures, starting with at least one hour for every 30 worked ([Seattle OLS, paid sick and safe time](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/paid-sick-and-safe-time)). Where Seattle's and Washington's figures differ, it takes the more generous one. Where the law sets figures by employer size, Mays shows the largest employers', so a smaller employer can set its own. If the location's address doesn't name Seattle, pick Seattle under **Where this location is**. Everyone who works hours earns it from approved punches, managers included, and a figure Mays doesn't have is left open for you to fill in from the official page.
- **Seattle's scheduling law is yours to track.** Mays doesn't check how far ahead a schedule is posted, doesn't compute pay for changes after it's posted, and doesn't warn about a closing shift followed too soon by an opening one. If your restaurant is covered, keep those records yourself.
- **Overtime by the address.** Staff clock in on their phone, a shared kiosk or an NFC tag, and timesheets run by pay period. Overtime is counted by the workweek, and with Labor law compliance on, by any daily, double-time and seventh-day rule Washington sets too, which Mays reads from the location's address; the schedule's labor cost, the reports and the pay summary all include it.
- **A tip pool per location.** Split pooled tips by hours worked, equally or by FTAR score, and choose which positions receive. **Leave managers and admins out of the pool** is on by default, so leave it on. If you take your card processor's fee out of card tips, turn on **Deduct the card processing fee from card tips**: Mays deducts only your processor's percentage, split in proportion to each person's card tips. Each person's share appears in the Tip Payouts report and the payroll export.
- **Food handler cards.** Turn on Labor law compliance and keep each person's card in Mays with its expiry date and a photo. Each location shows who has no card on file and whose card is about to expire, and Mays reminds the employee and their managers before a card expires.

## Sources

Every figure on this page comes from these official pages, as they read on the date shown.

- [City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, minimum wage](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/minimum-wage), checked October 5, 2026
- [City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, 2026 minimum wage fact sheet](https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/2026_OLS_MW_FactSheet_Contrast_ADA.pdf), checked October 5, 2026
- [US Department of Labor, state minimum wage laws](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/minimum-wage/state), checked September 24, 2026
- [City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, Secure Scheduling Ordinance](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/secure-scheduling), checked October 5, 2026
- [City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, Paid Sick and Safe Time](https://www.seattle.gov/laborstandards/ordinances/paid-sick-and-safe-time), checked October 5, 2026
- [Washington L&I, minimum wage](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/minimum-wage/), checked October 5, 2026
- [Washington L&I, paid sick leave](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/leave/paid-sick-leave/), checked September 24, 2026
- [US Department of Labor, overtime pay](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/overtime), checked September 24, 2026
- [Washington L&I, tips and service charges](https://lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/wages/tips-and-service-charges), checked September 24, 2026
- [US Department of Labor, tips under the FLSA](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/tips), checked September 24, 2026
- [WAC 296-126-092 (meal periods and rest breaks)](https://app.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.aspx?cite=296-126-092), checked September 24, 2026
- [Washington L&I, youth employment: wages, rest breaks and meal periods](https://www.lni.wa.gov/workers-rights/youth-employment/wages-rest-breaks-and-meal-periods), checked September 24, 2026
- [City of Seattle Office of Labor Standards, Wage Theft Ordinance questions and answers](https://www.seattle.gov/documents/Departments/LaborStandards/25_0930_WTO_QA_ADA.pdf), checked October 5, 2026
- [Washington Department of Health, food worker card](https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/food/food-worker-and-industry/food-worker-card), checked September 24, 2026

*This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and coverage rules (your business's size, whether federal law covers you) decide which of them apply. Check the pages above, and ask an employment lawyer or accountant about your situation.*

## Run Seattle payroll on the right numbers

Give each location its Seattle address, turn on Labor law compliance so the minimum wage, overtime and sick leave rules follow it, and let the time clock do the counting. Then payroll is an export, not an evening.

[**Start your free trial**](https://go.mays.app/register): 30 days, every module, no card needed. Running more than one city? Each location reads its own rules.

## Related help articles

- Time clock: [Labor & compliance (per location)](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/labor-compliance) — Where: Locations & Users → Locations → a location → Scheduling tab → Labor & compliance card.
- Scheduling: [Positions and wages](https://www.mays.app/help/scheduling/positions-and-wages) — Create the jobs people work — Barista, Cashier, Line Cook — with a colour and a default hourly wage, give people their positions and pay, and see where Mays uses them.
- Time clock: [Tip pooling](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/tip-pooling) — Pool a location's tips and share them out by hours worked, equally or by FTAR score — choose who takes part, keep managers out, and pay the shares through the payroll export.
- Time clock: [Timesheets and pay periods](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/timesheets-and-pay-periods) — Review every punch in a pay period on the Time Clock page — fix, add or delete punches, approve them, check warnings and hours, then close the period for payroll.
- Time clock: [Exporting payroll (CSV and Gusto)](https://www.mays.app/help/time-clock/payroll-export-and-gusto) — Download a pay period's hours as a Standard CSV or a Gusto timesheet, and add your Gusto employee IDs so the Gusto file imports cleanly.

Canonical: https://www.mays.app/blog/seattle-restaurant-pay-rules-2026