• When does the law go into effect?

  January 1st, 2025 SB6105 will be fully in effect.

• Which clubs are affected?

  All clubs that are operating as an “adult entertainment establishment”, by LNI definition, must comply with the law- whether they have a strip club license or not.

• Do the clubs have to be in compliance with the law even if they choose not to serve alcohol?

  Yes.

• Does this make dancers employees now?

  No, it does not change dancer Independent Contractor status.

• Can clubs force us to be employees?

  No, but some clubs may give you the option.

• Do Labor and Industries protections for withheld wages still apply even though we’re independent contractors?

  Yes, if the club is taking your money or overcharging you that counts as withheld wages, and clubs can be held liable to pay back up to 2x your owed wages.

• Can clubs serve alcohol now?

  Strip clubs may now choose to apply for alcohol licensure, once they are properly licensed they can serve alcohol. To qualify for a license to serve alcohol , clubs must be in compliance with dancer protections.

• Are clubs going to be 21+ now?

  Once a club is licensed for alcohol they cannot allow any employee, dancer, or patron under 21. Some clubs may choose to remain 18+, and not serve alcohol.

• Why did S.A.W. advocate for alcohol service in clubs?

  After several years of organizing hundreds of WA dancers and developing consensus around what needs to change in our industry, SAW identified the alcohol ban as a significant barrier to good working environments. Without alcohol service, clubs use dancers to keep the doors open. They charge high rent & predatory fees on dancers because it was the club’s main source of income. Clubs would cut corners to lower operational costs, like running without adequate staffing or letting locker rooms fall into disrepair. Meanwhile, customers would still drink in their cars or show up to the club already drunk, leaving the dancers to deal with unsafe patrons without adequate support from management. We passed the Strippers’ Bill of Rights to win our basic rights and create a sustainable industry. With alcohol service, clubs can make money without pressuring dancers. Alcohol licenses also create an incentive for clubs to follow the rules - they risk losing licensure if they don't comply with the added dancer protections of SB 6015. It’s now the clubs responsibility to not over serve patrons. Clubs are accountable to Labor and Industries (LNI) and the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board and risk fines or loss of licensure if they do not comply to all relevant labor laws and alcohol service laws.

We have received numerous reports that clubs are using illegal contracts & withholding money as form of retaliation against dancers. Please keep track of how many dances & rooms you sell, the posted prices, and how much the club is taking from you each shift. If the club is overcharging you, this is considered withheld wages, and clubs can be made to pay you back up double.

• Click here for a printable dance tracking sheet.

• Click here for an online dance tracking spreadsheet.

• Click here for a fee calculator

• Can clubs charge a per dance fee on top of the 30%?

  No. Clubs are not entitled to 30% of every lap dance either. They can only charge you 30% until you make $500 from lap dances. After that, they can’t take a % from your lap dance sales or charge any other rent or fees, to you, or your customer (excluding VIP room fee). $150 is the most a club can take total per shift in lap dance fees or house rent combined.

• How do I do the math to find out what 30% is?

  To determine 30%, multiply the dollar amount by .3.

  
  example:

  $500 x .3 = $150

  $150 is 30% of $500

• Can a club charge a higher per dance or vip room fee if it is charged to the customer?

  No, fees, whether they are charged to the dancer or to the customer are calculated the same. So a club can’t charge you 30% and then charge the customer another fee (i.e. a $10 couch rental fee).

• When do I get charged a 30% fee vs the $150 fee cap?

  If you make less than $500 in lap dances (do not include your tips or up-charges), you can be charged up to 30% of your lap dance sales in fees/house rent. If the club decides to charge you 30% of each dance as a lap dance fee, they cannot also charge you rent, or your customers “couch rental fees.”

  If you make more than $500 in lap dances (not including tips or up-charges), the club can charge you (at most) $150 in fees/house rent. If the club decides to charge you 30% of each dance as a lap dance fee, they have to stop charging a fee once they have taken $150. They cannot continue charging a fee to you as the dancer or to your customers, or charge you rent, once they have reached the $150 maximum fee cap.

  For private rooms, the maximum room fee is 30% of the club posted price. So if the clubs have their rooms priced at $200 / $400 / $600 , the maximum fee they can take from each room is $60 / $120 / $240. Nothing is stopping clubs from charging you less, but this law will punish clubs for charging more than that amount. We recommend that you build the room fees into the prices you tell customers, so that you are still getting a fair amount for your time.

  Example: If you want at least $300 take home from a 15 min room, and the club posted price is $200, you should be telling your customers that the price is at least $360. The club takes 30% of posted price: $200 x .3 = $60. You charge the customer $360. Your take-home is $360 - $60 = $300.

• Are fees charged by the club to the customer different than fees charged by the club to the dancer?

  No. For this bill, all leasing fees charged by the club count together towards the fee cap of $150. If the club is charging you 30%, and then charging the customer an additional fee, that is illegal.

• Does the club need to know my exact income?

  No, the club should not be counting your income strictly or counting your tips at all. The clubs should assume your “income” is the amount of dances and rooms you have sold times the club posted prices. Your own additional charges or tips are not included when the club counts your income for the purpose of determining fees owed.

• How will the club know how many dances I have done?

  Labor and Industries determined that the current method of tallying dances is a sufficient method of tracking dancer income. Like before, these tallying sheets do not need to be reported to any agency besides L&I.

• Will my room fees change or increase?

  Clubs may set fees as low as they like. This law creates a maximum limit, so that room fees can never exceed 30% of the club posted price. If you decide to charge more than the posted club price, you keep that as a tip. If clubs decide to raise their fees, they are doing that because they want to take your money, not because the law is making them.

  example for 15 min room, where the club charges the maximum fee:

  Club posted price for a 15 min room is $200. The maximum fee they can charge is $60 ($200 x .3 = $60). If you decide to charge the customer $400 for a 15 min room your take home will be $400 - $60 fee = $340 take home.

• Can my club charge me for missing my shift or showing up late?

  NO!

• Can clubs charge dancers different prices?

  No! All fees must be stated in our contracts and applied equally to every dancer. However, clubs may offer discounts to all dancers equally for things like working weekday shifts or showing up early.

• How much is my house rent?

  House rent is capped at $150 or 30% of your lap dances (not private rooms or tips) –whichever is less! So your house rent combined with lap dance fees (charged to you or to the customer) can NEVER EXCEED $150.

• How much can clubs charge for private room fees?

  Private room fees are capped at 30% of the private room cost. If a private room is advertised by the club to cost $500, the club cannot charge more than $150 in room fees.

• Can I use a card or payment app (like cash app) to take tips or payments from customers?

  Dancers can take any form of payment they choose to accept, at any time. The law cannot ban you from using a certain payment type.

• Can clubs charge back-rent (rent or fees owed from previous shifts)?

  Back-rent is permanently banned. Clubs cannot charge fees or interest for late or non-payments.

We have received numerous reports that clubs are using illegal contracts & withholding money as form of retaliation against dancers. Please keep track of how many dances & rooms you sell, the posted prices, and how much the club is taking from you each shift. If the club is overcharging you, this is considered withheld wages, and clubs can be made to pay you back up double.

• Click here for a printable dance tracking sheet.

• Click here for an online dance tracking spreadsheet.

To calculate the MAXIMUM rent / fees you can be charged to ensure the club is not overcharging you, use our formula below.

( Whichever is less: $150, or 30% of non-Private Room sales ) + ( 30% of private room sales ) = maximum fee

Example:

After one shift, you sell 15 lap dances for $40 each. You make $80 in stage tips. You do 1 private room. The clubs posted price for 15 min rooms is $200, but you charge $400.

Here is how we can determine the maximum fees owed. First, lets find 30% of your non-private room sales:

• $40 × 13 lap dances = $520

• $520 x .3 = $156

  Stage tips do not count towards your total “sales” or “amounts earned”.

30% of $520 is $156 but house rent is capped at $150. Maximum house rent for this shift is $150

Now lets do private room fees:

The fees are based off of the clubs posted price for rooms, not including your gratuity.

• $200 × .3 = $120

• The maximum the club can take in private room fees is $60.

• If you charge $400, your take home from the room will be $340.

( $150 ) + ( $60) = $210 maximum fees for the shift

Now lets see what your take home is at the end of the day:

• $520 from lap dances + $80 tips + $400 private rooms = $1,000

$1,000 - $210 in maximum fees = $790 take home

• Are clubs required to have security?

  Clubs must have a minimum of 1 security guard at all times, who doesn’t have other primary duties. During peak operating hours, security personnel cannot have any duties other than security. Ex: Outside of peak operating hours security staff can also be a table busser, but not a manager, and must prioritize responding to security concerns.

• If I need help from a security guard, but they are busy with something else, what should I do?

  Security must prioritize security concerns. If a security staff person is busy with anything else, they are required to stop immediately to respond to the security concern and assist dancers. If you have a safety issue please alert your security staff directly, ask management or other staff to get them, or use a panic button.

• Can I report a customer ?

  Yes. All clubs must maintain a customer complaint log. Clubs are required to record the allegations it receives that a customer has committed sex trafficking, prostitution, promotion of prostitution, or an act of violence, including assault, sexual assault, or sexual harassment, towards an entertainer.

• Can I put a customer on a blocklist to prevent them from entering the club?

  Yes. If an allegation of sex trafficking, prostitution, promotion of prostitution, or an act of violence, including assault, sexual assault, or sexual harassment, is supported by a statement made under penalty of perjury or other evidence, the customer is added to the establishment’s blocklist.

• How do the Customer Black Lists (blocklists) work?

  Clubs must collect all possible info about the reported customer and ban them for at least 3 years. This ban is across all clubs with the same ownership.

• Does making a report to the club mean I have to talk to police?

  No. Reporting to the police is not required to make a complaint. It is your choice to contact police or not. Establishments cannot require entertainers to report allegations to law enforcement as a prerequisite to a customer being added to the blocklist.

• When will the club call the police?

  This law cannot control when club staff chooses to call the police, but it does require establishments to have written processes and procedures to include when the police are called. This ensures that entertainers and all other employees are aware of the circumstances in which the police will be called.

• Will clubs have panic buttons?

  Yes, and panic buttons must be easily accessible and working. Panic buttons are required in each room in the club that an entertainer may be alone with a customer, in dressing rooms/locker rooms, and in bathrooms. If the buttons are not in an accessible location, notify management. Club management is responsible for training dancers on the location & how to use panic buttons.

• How will clubs make locker rooms more secure?

  Keypad door locks with password protection is required on dressing room door.

• Will club staff be trained? What will this training cover?

  Staff training is mandatory and the topics that will be covered are : anti-sexual harassment, conflict deescalation, first aid, trafficking, discrimination, and assault in the workplace. Trainings must be provided by third-party qualified professionals (so not the club itself.)

• Are dancers required to take this training?

  No. Staff trainings must be made available for dancers so they have the option to take them.

• Do dancers need to wear pasties?

  State law now allows dancers to be fully nude anywhere in the club. You cannot be criminally punished for nudity. Check with your club’s policy, because they may be more restrictive than the law.

• Can dancers wear fishnet, mesh, or see through outfits?

  There are no legal outfit restrictions. Outfits can show nipples or genitals.

• Do costumers need to maintain a certain distance from stages?

  No, customers can come up to stages and tip dancers. The previous law required that customers place tips in a tip receptacle away from the stage. Obviously this wasn’t enforced, but we are happy to remove this impractical law from the books.

• Can dancers take payment up front for services?

  Yes, dancers can take payment for services or tips at anytime. Dancers can take payment in whatever form they choose.

• What do contracts need to include?

  The contract must include a method for estimating amounts collected in any eight-hour period.

  The contract must include all fees that the club will charge.

  The contract must be in compliance with SB6105.

• If the contract violates the new law, and I sign my contract, am I giving up my rights?

  No. Clubs are not allowed to enforce illegal contracts. You may choose to sign the contract, knowing that it is not in compliance with SB6105, but that does not waive your rights. Take a photo of your contract if you can, and document how the club is violating your rights. You can report your club to L&I.

• If I suspect my club’s contract is illegal, what should I do?

  Take a picture or get a copy of the contract. You can report contracts in violation of SB6105 to LNI anonymously via their Adult Entertainer Rights Complaint form and attach your contract as a supporting document. You can also send it over to S.A.W. via our email strippersareworkerswa@gmail.com or our instagram @strippersareworkerswa.

  If you need to sign it to work, you can still take action. If you are in a position to refuse to sign it, you can boycott the club. Since most of us will, or already have, signed our contracts, be sure to keep track of how many dances & rooms you sell, the posted prices, and how much the club is taking from you each shift. If the club is overcharging you, this is considered withheld wages, and clubs can be fined and made to pay you back up double.

  • Click here for a printable dance tracking sheet.

  • Click here for an online dance tracking spreadsheet.

• How long do contracts last?

  Written contracts must continue to apply for at least 3 months.

• What do I do if I am fired or not rehired by a club?

  All clubs are required to provide a reason for termination or refusal to rehire a dancer within 10 days if requested by the dancer. This will support dancers making discrimination cases against clubs, if they were wrongfully terminated/not rehired.

You have the right to file an Adult Entertainer Rights Complaint to Labor & Industries (LNI) when you believe your workers’ rights are being violated.

• What can I file an Adult Entertainer Rights complaint for?

  • Leasing fee or other fee rate.

  • Club taking your tips and gratuities.

  • Not having the required establishment signage.

  • Written contract not in compliance.

  • Did not receive a termination or refusal to hire notice.

  • Lack of security guards, or health & safety risks

  • Retaliation for exercising your workers’ rights.

• Do Labor and Industries protections for withheld wages still apply even though we’re independent contractors?

  Yes, if the club is taking your money or overcharging you that counts as withheld wages, and clubs can be held liable to pay back your owed wages + interest.

• Are complaints to LNI anonymous?

  • Health and safety complaints may be anonymous when reporting.

  • Wage theft and retaliation complaints can be initially made anonymous, but eventually L&I will need your identifying information to complete the investigation. We recommend starting the process anonymously with a burner email and then make your decision about identifying yourself later.

  • Other labor standards complaints may be anonymous when reporting.

• Can the club retaliate or fire me if I make a complaint?

  It is unlawful for an establishment to take any adverse action against an entertainer because the entertainer has exercised their right to file a complaint or participate in the complaint process. Retaliation can include: firing you, withholding wages, holding your pay until the end of the shift, pulling you from lap dances or private rooms to prevent you from making money, changing your music or charging you extra fees, and more. Retaliatory/adverse action is illegal and you can take action against the club. Visit the LNI website to file a retaliation complaint form or call 360-902-6088 or 1-800-423-7233.

• How long do I have to file a complaint?

  LNI can investigate most complaints within 3 years of the date you should have been paid, beginning January 1, 2025. Complaints of retaliation must be filed within 180 days after the retaliatory action.

• What type of evidence do I need for my complaint?

  You do not need any evidence to make a complaint. However, the more supporting documents you have, the better. Examples include: tip or gratuity records, signed contracts, any communications exchanged with adult entertainment establishment owners, or even your personal records. You can start tracking what you made vs what the club has charged with our dance tracking sheets.

  • Click here for a printable sheet.

  • Click here for an online spreadsheet.

• I’d like to make a complaint, but I need help filing it.

  If you would like support from S.A.W. filing a complaint please reach out to us via email strippersareworkerswa@gmail.com or our instagram @strippersareworkerswa
  
  If you would like to ask LNI questions or for assistance to file a complaint, call the Employment Standards Program at 1-866-219-7321.

• How do I make a safety & health complaint, unrelated to SB6105?

  If you feel that your work environment is unsafe, you may report an alleged safety or health hazard with L&I’s Division of Occupational Safety & Health (DOSH):

  • File a Safety & Health Complaint (in English, Spanish or other languages) or call 1-800-423-7233.

  • Learn more about safety & health complaints.

• What is S.A.W. doing to support dancers during this time & make sure clubs are following the new rule?

  • Educating dancers on their new rights

  • Breaking down the law so it’s easier to understand, and getting clarification on any grey ares.

  • Going to clubs to see how the law is and isn’t being implemented across the state

  • Taking questions and concerns from dancers

  • Holding Q&A meetings to answer your questions

  • Offering 1 on 1 support via our email or IG pms to help you determine what your club is doing illegal and what your next steps can be

  • Compiling evidence of clubs violating SB6105

  • Making Adult Entertainer Complaints to LNI about the clubs we work at

  • Meeting with LNI to voice everyone’s concerns and ensure that club compliance with fee caps is promptly dealt with.

• Do I have to tell clubs how much I make in tips?

  No.

• Can clubs take a % of my tips?

  No.

• Am I required to tip out staff?

  No.

Clubs are required to provide stage cleaning supplies for dancers.

• What signage is required in clubs?

  Clubs must post signage explaining proper customer etiquette & conduct.

  Clubs must post signage explaining that dancers do not have to tip club employees.

  Clubs must post signage informing dancers about their retaliation protections.