Job Opportunity: Staff Attorney
ABOUT THE ROLE
We seek a Staff Attorney dedicated to advancing the rights of low-wage, immigrant, and contingent workers. The Staff Attorney will support our organization’s efforts to ensure that workers know their rights under local, state, and federal law and that employers are held accountable to labor standards. They will use a variety of legal strategies to advance the rights of low-wage workers, including individual advice and representation, strategic litigation, research, and policy advocacy. We are looking for an attorney committed to using their legal training to build the power of Washington’s working people. This position will report to the Legal Director.
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ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
We build power through education, organizing, and enforcement. We work to raise and uphold standards in the workplace. And we fight for economic and racial justice in our communities. Here’s how:
EDUCATION – We learn together about our rights as workers, and we develop the tools to exercise our rights and make them real.
ORGANIZING – We organize, speak out, and take action to win changes in our workplaces and our lives. Together, we transform industry practices, change laws, and shift norms around the value of work.
ENFORCEMENT – We hold employers accountable to workplace laws and standards through legal services, and we use the law creatively to help build our movement.
ABOUT THE LEGAL TEAM
Our legal team provides free individual consultations, pro se assistance, representation in administrative enforcement processes, and maintains an active strategic litigation docket focused on our priority industries. In addition to direct representation our attorneys provide policy analysis, research, and enforcement strategy support to campaigns to improve workplace conditions.
POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES
- Conducting consultations with workers and advising them of their rights under local, state, and federal law
- Representing clients in state and federal litigation, and before administrative agencies
- Developing and providing self-help resources to assist workers navigating enforcement processes, including agencies and small claims court
- Providing research and policy support to strategic enforcement campaigns and minimum standards legislation at the local, state, and national level
- Collaborating with Fair Work Center and Working Washington staff to design and implement campaigns advancing the rights of workers in priority industries
- Supporting training and education initiatives that build the capacity of worker leaders and partner organization staff to enforce existing workplace protections
- Representing the organization in coalitions and in meetings with co-counsel, partner organizations, and employer and government representatives
- Assisting in the supervision of interns
CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS
Required Qualifications
- Licensed to practice law in Washington state, or intending to apply for admission as soon as possible
- Demonstrated commitment to racial and economic justice, and to the mission of the Fair Work Center and Working Washington
- At least two years of experience in employment, labor, immigration, or consumer protection law (may be a combination of internships and full-time work)
- Excellent legal research, analysis, and writing skills
- Ability to think strategically, explore creative solutions to problems, and communicate effectively with colleagues, partners, and policymakers
- Ability to work collaboratively with community educators and organizers
- Ability to speak Spanish, Tagalog, Somali, Mandarin, or Amharic
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working with, or personal experience with, the obstacles and opportunities facing low-wage, immigrant, and contingent workers.
Salary & Benefits: This is a bargaining unit position. Salaries are set by the union pay scale, with starting pay between $70,290 – $80,594.51, based on relevant experience, and significant annual step increases and COLAs each year. Generous benefits package, including fully-paid family health care, employer 401k contribution, substantial holidays, vacation and sick leave, and ORCA card.
Other Information: This is a salaried overtime exempt position based in our Seattle or Yakima office. It may require occasional evening and weekend work and occasional travel throughout the state to support users in other offices or locations.
How to Apply: Interested applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and writing sample not to exceed five pages) to jobs@fairworkcenter.org with the applicant’s last name and “Staff Attorney” in the subject line. In your cover letter, let us know why you’re interested in this role and which skills you believe will make you successful in it. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, with the priority deadline for applications by December 16, 2022.
Commitment to Equity: Fair Work Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We strongly encourage people from communities most negatively affected by historical and ongoing inequity to apply, particularly: people of color, immigrants, women, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people, and people with disabilities. We seek candidates whose lived experiences reflect the lived experiences of the workers we support. If you need disability, language or other accommodation in the application process, please contact Zhi Chen at zhi@fairworkcenter.org.