Protected Activity under Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunities Act

Washington’s Equal Pay and Opportunity Act (EPOA) not only protects workers’ rights to equal pay, but it also protects their right to discuss pay within the workplace, which includes requests for pay raises. Under the EPOA “…an employer may not… discharge or in any other manner retaliate against an employee for… [i]nquiring about, disclosing, comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's wages or the wages of any other employee.” RCW 49.58.040. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (“L&I”) is tasked with enforcing the EPOA and has published guidance describing various protected employee activities under the EPOA. RCW 49.58.090. With respect to discussions of wages, L&I provides examples of protected wage discussions, including where “an employee ask[s] their employer for a pay raise…[and where] an employee compar[es] wages with other employee[s].” Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, F700-216-000 EPOA Employer Guide: Equal Pay and Opportunities Act (RCW 49.58), https://lni.wa.gov/forms-publications/F700-216-000.pdf, August 7, 2025.

According to the guidance published by L&I, employees may not be terminated, or face retaliation, for requesting a pay raise. Because employees are often unaware of the pay earned by their coworkers, employees may need to discuss and compare their wages to those of their coworkers in order to support a request for a raise. Under the EPOA, employers may not retaliate against employees for taking such action and using the data they have gathered from their coworkers to support their request for a raise.