BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Boeing will pay more than $11 million in unpaid wages to its workers in a historic settlement.

The Washington Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) received four complaints in November 2022 from employees who were working overseas for Boeing. Those complaints prompted an investigation that found Boeing had failed to properly compensate its workers for out-of-town business travel.

The violations L&I observed included unpaid wages for time spent by workers on necessary travel for a work trip and missing overtime and sick leave accrual based on those hours.

All travel time related to work is considered work time under Washington state law, despite federal laws that exclude certain travel time.

L&I and Boeing signed a compliance agreement last Friday (May 24) confirming $11.5 million in payments to nearly 500 workers.

The individual amounts ranged from a few hundred dollars to over $90,000.

L&I says Boeing’s payout is the largest amount of back pay returned to workers in the agency’s history.