Story

I'm a salaried software engineering employed in Washington state. I make a bit under $100k. Today I learned about minimum wage laws in WA state for computing professionals that would give me a raise of $15k - $20k / yr. Question is - how do I bring it up to my employer, and is it as straightforward as it sounds here?

WAC 296-128-535 states that:

"Beginning January 1, 2022, and each following year, an amount not less than 3.5 times the minimum wage prescribed in RCW 49.46.020 per hour regardless of the size of the employer" [0]

3.5 times the current minimum wage would be $16.28 * 3.5 * 160hrs * 12 or ~109k / yr, before the minimum wage increases here again in January.

- I design, document, write, test, debug, etc. low-level software in my job (I fit the description according to the written law).

- I am compensated on a salary basis.

I'm assuming, if this were correct, my employer would also owe me back pay if this is in fact a miscalculation, of all the months since I started (I started after January 1, 2022)?

[0] https://app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=296-128-535