SB 5355: Establishing wage liens
March 23rd @ 10am in the House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards
Wage theft disproportionately impacts immigrant workers, many of whom have language barriers and who are unlikely to take extra risks for fear of retaliation.
For over 100 years, Washington construction workers and farm workers have been able to use “liens” as a powerful tool to recover wages stolen by unscrupulous employers. When a worker puts a lien on a property, it serves as a notice to a potential buyer of that property that the property may need to be used to pay unpaid wages.
SB 5355 takes this worker protection and applies it to all other industries, such as retail, janitorial, and landscaping services.
A lien by itself does not give the worker the right to take any property. Instead, the lien guarantees that if the worker wins in court or in an administrative hearing, then the property is still available to help the worker recoup their unpaid wages.
What you can do to support
SB 5355 is being heard on Tuesday in the House Committee on Labor and Workplace Standards. To support of this important worker protection policy, please sign in “PRO” here prior to the hearing.
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