Opinion ID: 2507215
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Does delayed payment of wages give rise to liability under the WPA?

Text: ¶ 35 In pertinent part, the WPA provides that an employer may not withhold wages due an employee at the termination of employment unless required by law, by agreement between the employer and employee, or for medical services. RCW 49.48.010. The WPA also contains a proviso that renders a governing and contrary labor-management agreement controlling authority on the issue of payment. Id. ¶ 36 Champagne focuses on the following language of the WPA to establish his claim: It shall be unlawful for any employer to withhold or divert any portion of an employee's wages. Pet. for Rev. at 13-14; RCW 49.48.010. He further argues that employees who have had their wages unlawfully withheld in violation of RCW 49.48.010 have a private right of action against the employer. Pet. for Rev. at 14 (citing Wingert, 146 Wash.2d at 850, 50 P.3d 256). ¶ 37 The County notes that the WPA is limited in its application. As its language suggests, RCW 49.48.010 applies in the context of termination. Further, RCW 49.48.010 has not been applied to nontermination cases. Pope, 121 Wash.2d at 489, 852 P.2d 1055 (holding that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment where the plaintiffs had not pleaded that the employer defendant made improper deductions at the end of the employment relationship). Like the employees in Pope, Champagne is not claiming that the County made improper deductions at the time of termination. Champagne is a current employee of the County and, therefore, his claim is beyond the scope of RCW 49.48.010. ¶ 38 Furthermore, a labor-management agreement may trump the provisions of the WPA. RCW 49.48.010. Here, the governing collective bargaining agreement allows for a delay in payment of overtime wages and compensatory time. CP at 135, 188. Therefore, even if RCW 49.48.010 applied (which it does not because Champagne is a current employee), the statute would bar its application to damages arising from delayed payment of overtime wages and compensatory time.