Check Your Work

Whether applying for a new job at a business or vetting a local contractor, it helps to know how to check their record for safety, wage or other violations. Public agencies track and document much of this information, but we’re hoping to make it easier to find while adding independent context or data where we can. 

Below you will find information on filing a safety or wage-theft complaint with L&I, as well as public tools for accessing inspection records, wage violations, unfair labor practices complaints and other workplace oversight tools. We plan to continue building out this guide as our coverage expands and we discover new or insightful data. 

Read our independent investigative reporting on working conditions, safety concerns and government oversight efforts throughout the state at WA Workplace Watch. Send your questions or suggestions to the investigations editor at jacob.jones@cascadepbs.org or reporter lizz.giordano@cascadepbs.org.

The state Department of Labor & Industries is charged with overseeing the safety of nearly all workers in the state except for federal employees and employers on tribal lands. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) at the U.S. Department of Labor oversees the safety of federal workers. Labor & Industries is also tasked with investigating wage theft complaints and running the state’s worker’s compensation program.

“First and foremost, stay safe! Don’t work under unsafe conditions,” said Jeremiah Miller, legal director of Working Washington, a nonprofit worker advocacy organization. “Tell your supervisor you can’t keep working in the unsafe conditions, and ask them to fix it. … If they don’t fix the problem or [if they] instruct you to keep working, you can refuse to work due to your safety concerns, though you should not leave work.”

The state has also passed new permanent heat-protection and smoke-exposure rules this year. Employers have an obligation to ensure workers know how to do their jobs safely and provide training to employees. 

“If workers have not been trained, they should ask for training specific to their workplace,” Miller added. “If their employer refuses, they should report that refusal.”

Samantha Grad, political director of Teamsters 117 and a member of L&I’s safety and health advisory committee, recommends that when reporting, workers make note of the safety hazard, the times it occurred and the law that was violated.

“My best pro tips for anyone who’s going to file a safety complaint, is as much as possible drilling down on what law was violated,” said Grad. “That’s all really helpful information to share with the investigators when you file your complaint.”

Workers can file a health or safety complaint by filling out an L&I complaint form and uploading it. This can be done on a computer or smartphone, which might require downloading a free app, available for both Apple iOS and Android. Forms can also be faxed to a local office, or workers can report a complaint over the phone by calling 1-800-423-7233. 

Miller also suggests being prepared to be as specific as possible to assist L&I with an inspection, and, if it can be done safely, getting other workers to confirm the hazard. Workers can also submit videos and photographs with their complaint. 

On the complaint form, workers can choose to remain anonymous or allow L&I to reveal their name to their employer. Whether or not a worker requests confidentiality, it’s against the law for a company to retaliate against an employee for filing a health or safety complaint. L&I also conducts investigations of retaliation, which can be reported using a retaliation complaint form.

Workers at unionized workplaces can receive help from their union when reporting a health or safety hazard. Unions also can file a complaint. Non-unionized workers can reach out to Working Washington, Fair Work Center or the Northwest Justice Project for assistance.

L&I provides a debarred contractor list. Those companies cannot bid on public works projects. 

For more in-depth information on a company’s violation history, use OSHA’s inspection database. A search here will return all the inspections conducted at the workplace and any citations and fines issued in either Washington or around the country. That page also allows you to track what fines companies are challenging and which ones have been settled. 

In 2011, L&I created a Severe Violator Enforcement Program to increase monitoring of companies with repeat serious violations and those that knowingly violated safety regulations. Companies on the list range from massive corporations like Boeing to small contractors. The list contained 78 businesses as of December 2023. Employers remain on the list for at least three years.

A Cascade PBS analysis of L&I records in May 2024 found that safety officers have not returned to inspect the worksites of more than a third of companies classified as “severe violators” over the past five years. The agency noted construction companies, which make up about 70% of severe violators, can be difficult to reinspect due to their routinely changing worksite locations. 

After the NLRB certifies a vote, the union’s bargaining unit and employer start negotiating a contract. That first contract takes on average 465 days, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis. 

For Starbucks baristas who began unionizing in December 2021, the path to a contract has stretched longer, a Crosscut investigation found. Pushing back against the coffee giant as negotiations drag, their union, Starbucks Workers United, has filed a flurry of unfair labor practice complaints accusing the company of not bargaining in good faith and retaliating against union organizers. The company has also filed complaints against the union.

The NLRB website has a searchable database of filed labor dispute cases. There you can also look up workplaces that have held union elections and their outcomes. Many filings require a Freedom of Information Act request to view the full document.

Crosscut has obtained copies of unfair labor practice complaints filed by Washington employers, employees or unions from January 2022 to February 2023. These are just allegations. The NLRB decides which charges to pursue. This database will be updated as records become available.

Employees working over 40 hours in a week must receive overtime, which is at least 1.5 times their hourly rate. Workers are not allowed to waive their right to overtime pay. This applies to most hourly workers, and some salaried employees. 

The state legislature extended overtime pay to agriculture workers in 2021. In 2023, these workers had to be compensated for any hours worked over 48 in a week. In 2024, this is set to drop to 40. 

Being paid below minimum wage or not receiving breaks, paid sick leave or overtime pay all qualify as wage theft. Workers can file wage-theft complaints three ways: using an online complaint form, downloading and mailing a worker rights complaint form or visiting an L&I office. 

The agency requests that workers include supporting documents with their complaints, which can include time cards, shift schedules, pay stubs, workplace policies or any written wage agreements. Investigations typically take up to 60 days to complete, according to L&I. 

Collect all the documentation you can to demonstrate the failure to pay the wages you are owed, suggests Miller with Working Washington.

“If your employer doesn’t keep records – a common occurrence – you should make your own records of start and stop times, missed breaks, tips you didn’t receive, etc.,” he said. “This will really help you as you work to get paid properly.”

Often it is very clear if a worker isn’t receiving sick leave or overtime, Grad said. 

“Documents don’t have to be something super-duper fancy and official; pull out your phone or pull out a notepad and start making a note on this day, ‘I was called back from my break and forced to work, I only got five minutes of a break,’ or ‘I didn't get a lunch break this day,’” she added. “This will be very helpful when it comes to filing a complaint.”

Working Washington, Fair Work Center and the Northwest Justice Project are also available to assist with wage issues. 

Find employers that L&I has found to have violated wage-theft laws with this search tool. You can search by company name, city or ZIP code.

Seattle has its own rules regarding labor standards, which include paid sick leave for gig workers. The city also conducts its own wage-theft investigations. Complaints can be filed  through a web form; by calling (206) 256-5297 (interpreters can be provided); or by visiting the Office of Labor Standards.

The city indicates that it prioritizes investigating complaints from workers making less than 350% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, which is $51,030 for 2023, and those that impact a larger number of employees.