Patagonia to pay $55,000 after allegedly violating Seattle scheduling law

Outdoor retailer Patagonia will pay nearly $55,000 to current and former Seattle retail employees after allegedly failing to post their schedules with enough notice. 

The company settled the allegations with Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards and agreed to pay $54,654 to 95 employees, plus a $575 fine to the city, the office announced Wednesday. Patagonia employs about 25 people at its Belltown store. The alleged violations spanned from May 2019 to April 2022.

Patagonia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

The California-based retailer has for years cultivated a progressive reputation, recently offering to pay bail for employees arrested protesting for abortion rights, pulling its merchandise from a Wyoming ski resort that hosted U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and suing the Trump administration over its decision to reduce the size of two Utah monuments. 

Steven Marchese, director of the Office of Labor Standards, said in a statement that after Patagonia was confronted with the allegations, it agreed to pay “all employees impacted” by the alleged violations.

Seattle’s secure scheduling law requires large retail and food service companies to post hourly employees’ schedules at least two weeks in advance, pay employees when the company changes the schedule after it’s posted and pay workers extra when they have fewer than 10 hours between closing and opening shifts (known as “clopening”).

Chains such as Fred Meyer, Qdoba and California Pizza Kitchen have settled with the city after allegations under the law in recent years. Trader Joe’s agreed this spring to pay about $44,500.

The city says 5,652 workers have received a total of about $5.6 million for alleged violations of the law since it took effect in 2017.