Nearly $136,000 in Remedies to 705 Workers
For Immediate Release
Contact: Cynthia Santana/Communications Manager
206-256-5219
cynthia.santana@seattle.gov
Seattle Office of Labor Standards Reaches Settlement with Online Platform Handy Technologies for Alleged Violations of Domestic Workers Ordinance
Nearly $136,000 in Remedies to 705 Workers
Seattle, WA – (December 1, 2025) – The Office of Labor Standards (OLS) investigated Handy Technologies, Inc. for alleged violations of the Domestic Workers Ordinance (DWO). Handy reached a settlement with OLS and agreed to pay $135,723.53 in back pay, interest, liquidated damages, and civil penalties to 705 affected workers.
Handy operates an online platform that provides residential cleaning, lawn care, and other home services.
OLS alleged Handy failed to:
- Pay minimum wage to domestic workers for all hours worked
- Provide domestic workers meal periods and rest breaks
- Pay domestic workers for missed meal periods and rest breaks
“Seattle’s Domestic Workers Ordinance ensures workers performing domestic work in private homes will be paid appropriately and treated fairly. OLS hopes the results of this investigation will raise awareness among workers of their rights and help them feel empowered to come forward with their complaints, whether their work is app-mediated like on Handy or not,” said OLS Director, Steven Marchese. “Through a variety of means, OLS educates both domestic workers and hiring entities about this law and other laws that impact domestic workers like Seattle’s Minimum Wage and Wage Theft Ordinances, to promote compliance and ensure everyone’s rights are respected.”
“We are very excited and gratified that this investigation was such a success. These vulnerable workers deserve justice, and OLS works tirelessly with our community to provide that. This outcome is a heartening show of solidarity with workers who can often be subsumed by large platforms and the faceless corporations that operate them,” said Co-Chair Domestic Workers Standards Board, Baylie Freeman. “This investigation provides a path forward to enforce the DWO on a larger scale, educating more employers and fighting for more domestic workers’ rights. We hope that this outcome will pave the way for even stronger enforcement of the DWO and for more workers to come forward seeking assistance. Large platforms that attract domestic workers and employers have often operated without guardrails, especially when the workers involved are classified as independent contractors. This victory marks a turning point in the industry that will lead to greater accountability of employers and hope for more vulnerable workers.”
This settlement is an example of the evolving domestic worker labor market. OLS, in partnership with community stakeholders, recently completed extensive research highlighting current domestic worker conditions along with recommendations.
The Domestic Workers Ordinance gives domestic workers the right to minimum wage protections, meal periods, and paid rest breaks. Live-in domestic workers have rights to take time off from work. Under City law, domestic workers also have a right to keep their personal documents and possessions. This law protects domestic workers regardless of their employment status or immigration status. This law has been in effect since July 1, 2019.
- To learn more about Seattle’s Domestic Workers Ordinance and research please visit the OLS website by clicking here.
- Help for workers and the public: to ask a question, file a complaint, or provide information, call 206-256-5297, email workers.laborstandards@seattle.gov, or click here to fill out a worker inquiry web form.
- Help for employers: for free and private assistance for compliance with Seattle’s labor standards, call 206-256-5297, email business.laborstandards@seattle.gov or click here to fill out an employer/ hiring entity inquiry web form.
- Hacer clic aquí para ver este mensaje en español.
###