​1. Cost Burdens of Minimum Wage Increase

Immediate wage hike to $20/hour for large businesses of 500 employees—and a phased-in hike for medium (16-499 employees) and small employers (15 and fewer)—puts Olympia’s minimum wage far above the state and will be one of the highest in the nation. Nonprofits, retail shops, restaurants, and service companies already operate with thin margins; higher wages without added revenue streams will result in:

• Price increases (which may drive customers to shop/eat outside Olympia)

• Staff cuts or reduced hours

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2. Complex Scheduling Rules

14-day scheduling notice means employers must post work schedules two weeks in advance, which:

• Makes it impossible for restaurants and retailers to adjust staffing to fluctuating demand (weather, events, emergencies)

• Requires extra administrative work—and penalties if mistakes are made

• Penalizes employers who need to fill shifts quickly (with “unfair scheduling payments”)

For example, if a coffee shop suddenly needs to cover a shift and offers it to a barista, they must pay extra even if the employee is happy to pick up the hours.

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3. Hiring and Promotion Restrictions

Before hiring anyone new, employers must offer extra hours to current employees and distribute them “fairly” across the team—creating delays and paperwork and limiting flexibility.

This discourages teen hiring, because:

• Extra hours must first go to existing staff, even if teens are a good fit for entry-level roles.

• Employers may simply choose not to expand staff at all to avoid compliance risk.

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4. Heavy Penalties and Litigation Risk

Fines of $500+ per violation and the ability for employees (or third-party advocates) to sue means small mistakes could result in large legal costs. “Retaliation presumption” (any negative action within 90 days presumed illegal) makes discipline and terminations risky—even if performance-related.

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5. Franchise Classification

Franchise owners are counted together with all locations in the network, so even a single-store operator in Olympia is treated like a large corporation if the franchise brand has 500+ employees nationwide. This means higher wage requirements and compliance burdens, even if the local franchise is just a small business with limited profit margins.

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6. Administrative Burden on Local Government

The ordinance requires the City to enforce, investigate, and administer rules, but does not allocate new funds to cover these costs.

This will mean:

• Diverting resources from other city services

• Slower response times on enforcement and complaints

• Risk of lawsuits against the City if enforcement is inconsistent

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7. Lack of Local Input

This measure was crafted by an outside organization as a “test case,” not by Olympia stakeholders. The City Council, local businesses, nonprofits, and community groups were not part of drafting the language, meaning unintended consequences are very likely. Council also can’t modify the ordinance without running an expensive ballot measure.

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8. Impacts on Teen Hiring

Employers will be reluctant to add part-time or seasonal staff because of scheduling penalties. Teens, who often seek flexible, last-minute, or short-term work, will find fewer opportunities—especially in food service, retail, and summer jobs—because compliance risk outweighs the benefit for employers. Few employers will want to take the risk of hiring and training a teen at $20 an hour.