Correction: Washington-Overtime Rules story

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — In a story dated June 5, 2019, The Associated Press erroneously stated the current minimum wage in Washington state was $12.50. The minimum wage is $12.

A corrected version of the story is below:

More Washington workers could see OT pay under proposed rule

More than 250,000 workers in Washington state to be eligible for overtime pay by 2026 under a new rule proposed by the state's Department of Labor and Industries

By RACHEL LA CORTE

Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — More than 250,000 workers in Washington state would be newly eligible for overtime pay by 2026 under a rule proposed Wednesday by the state's Department of Labor and Industries.

The state agency announced that it had formally filed the proposed rule, which would ultimately more than triple the salary threshold under which employers must pay overtime to their workers. Under the proposed rule, the higher salary threshold will be set as a percentage of the state's minimum wage, which is currently $12.00, but will rise to $13.50 an hour next year.

The overtime-exempt threshold will increase yearly, starting July 1, 2020, and will vary depending on the size of the company until 2026, when all companies will have the same threshold.

The agency said that following a rulemaking process that will include public hearings across the state, it expected the new overtime rules to be adopted by the end of the year.

The proposed rule is the first update to the state's overtime rules in more than four decades and would shrink the so-called "white collar exemption" that exempts workers who perform "executive, administrative or professional" duties from overtime and minimum wage requirements.

Washington workers are currently covered by the federal threshold, in which salaried positions are...