Commitment to Immigrants and Refugees

The Office of Labor Standards offers free services to all people regardless of their immigration status. These services include investigating potential violations of labor standards, providing outreach and education on our labor standards, and providing resources and referrals.

We will never ask about your immigration status.

• You are protected by Seattle’s labor standards regardless of immigration status.
• OLS offers free language interpretation and translation. Our team will speak to you in your home language or will use an interpreter to help us speak to one another.
• OLS is part of the Seattle government and is separate from the federal government.

If you work in Seattle, you have the right to:

• the benefit of any labor standard that applies to your workplace.
• report to us if you believe your labor standards rights have been violated.
• be free from retaliation.

It is illegal for a business or employer to retaliate against you by:

• threatening to inform immigration authorities that you or someone close to you doesn’t have immigration status,
• filing a false report with a government agency like immigration or police, or
• firing or demoting you.

While OLS cannot guarantee that you will not experience retaliation for contacting us with a labor standards complaint, we do enforce penalties on employers and businesses who do so.

Because we are a public agency, we are subject to Washington State’s public disclosure laws that require us to release some written records that are created during our work.

We will take what steps we are legally allowed to keep your information private, including when you reach out to us with questions, complaints, or share information during an investigation. When you call us, please ask for “non-disclosure”. This helps us do as much as possible to protect your information from being released. If you have concerns about this, please visit us at our office or call us.

We contract with community and business organizations to provide outreach and assistance with labor standards. If you do not feel comfortable contacting OLS directly, you can contact one of our partners with questions about your rights or obligations.

We also abide by the City of Seattle’s Privacy Statement and Privacy Principles. To learn more about those, please visit: Privacy Statement - Tech | seattle.gov

The following immigration resources may be useful to you.

Know your Rights: Immigration

• Northwest Immigrant Rights Project: Know Your Rights | NWIRP.org
• Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network: Home - WAISN
• Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs: Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs - IandRaffairs | seattle.gov

Immigration Enforcement Actions at Workplaces

• What to Do If Immigration Comes to your Workplace (available in English, Spanish, Thai, Korean, and Chinese), produced by the National Immigration Law Center and National Employment Law Project
• Guidance Concerning Immigration Enforcement, produced by the Attorney General of Washington

Legal Services

• The Seattle-King County Immigrant Legal Defense Network provides free legal services for those who cannot pay for services 
• Catholic Immigration Legal Services (CILS) can answer questions about DACA renewal at (206) 328-6314. Please leave a message with your name, phone number, and the nature of your call and they will call you back. CILS offers low-cost legal services to those who qualify.

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

• American Civil Liberties Union: Know Your Rights | Dreamers (DACA) | ACLU
• City of Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs’ DACA webpage, which includes basic information and free DACA assistance events that the City’s community partners are organizing in and around Seattle
• Northwest Immigrant Rights Project DACA resource page
• United We Dream DACA helpful link page, including mental health care advice

OLS Comment opposing 2018 federal “Public Charge” Rulemaking

On October 19, 2018, OLS submitted the following public comment opposing the Trump Administration's proposed rulemaking on the definition of the term "public charge": "On behalf of the Seattle Office of Labor Standards, I write to oppose in the strongest possible terms the Department of Homeland Security's cruel proposal to vastly expand the definition of "public charge." The proposed rule will adversely impact millions of immigrant families hoping to secure their permanent future in this country by discouraging them from seeking essential health and housing programs. Cities and states would also be harmed due to decreased participation in programs that improve the well-being of their communities." Read more...