Workers can sue directly – and the anti-retaliation rules bite hard
Washington just handed every employer in the state a new compliance mandate tied to federal immigration inspections, and HR teams have months to get ready.
Governor Bob Ferguson signed the Immigrant Worker Protection Act into law on March 30, 2026, creating a set of employer notification and anti-retaliation requirements that will reshape how Washington businesses respond to federal I-9 workplace inspections. The law, formally known as Second Substitute House Bill 2105, passed the House 58-38 and the Senate 27-21 before landing on Ferguson's desk. Its core enforcement provisions take effect October 1, 2026.
Here is what it means in practice. When a federal agency notifies an employer of an inspection of I-9 forms and related worker records, that employer has five business days to provide a written notice to each worker and any authorized collective bargaining representative. The notice must include a copy of the federal inspection notice itself, along with the following information in English and the five most commonly used non-English languages in the state: the name of the inspecting federal agency, the date the employer received notice of the inspection, the types of records sought, and contact information for a statewide immigrant and refugee rights organization approved by the Attorney General.
The obligations do not stop there. Once the inspection results come back, the employer has another five business days to notify each affected worker individually. That notification must describe the specific deficiencies tied to that worker, lay out the correction timeline, propose meeting times within the correction period, and inform the worker of their right to bring representation to that meeting. All of this must be communicated in the language the employer and worker most regularly use with each other.
Delivery methods matter too. Posting the notice in a conspicuous place where worker notices are customarily displayed is necessary but not sufficient. Employers must also transmit the notice directly to workers through their primary communication channel, whether that is hand delivery, mail, email, or text, and they need to keep proof of transmission on file.
The anti-retaliation provisions are where the law gets its teeth. Employers cannot penalize workers for exercising any rights under the act. That covers everything from filing a complaint to participating in an investigation. The definition of adverse action is broad: withholding or delaying wages, cutting hours, changing schedules, denying promotions, and threatening action based on a worker's immigration status all qualify.
Penalties run on two tracks. The Attorney General can pursue violations and seek $500 in statutory damages per notice failure per worker, doubled for willful violations. Workers can also sue on their own, and courts must award the greater of actual damages or 40 times the state hourly minimum wage per violation per plaintiff, plus attorneys' fees.
The law applies to every employer in Washington with at least one worker, including state agencies and municipal corporations. The Attorney General must publish a workplace poster, a model notice template, and employer guidance materials on its website by September 1, 2026, all in multiple languages. Employers who use the model notice as instructed are considered compliant with the initial inspection notification requirements under Section 5 for enforcement purposes, a meaningful safe harbor worth noting.
One important wrinkle: the entire act hinges on the legislature appropriating specific funding by June 30, 2026. If that money does not come through, the law is null and void. HR leaders should track that deadline closely.
The legislature framed the law around economic reality. Immigrants make up 15 percent of Washington's population and contribute an estimated $145 billion to the state's GDP each year. Lawmakers found that workplace raids disrupt families and communities, reduce community safety, and do little to curb illegal employer conduct or raise standards for workers.
For HR departments, the to-do list is concrete. Build multilingual notice protocols. Train managers on anti-retaliation rules. Set up communication systems that generate delivery receipts. Watch for the Attorney General's model templates in September. And keep an eye on the appropriations calendar in June. The runway is short, and the stakes, measured in per-worker statutory damages, are not.
