March 2022 | Issue 17
WA Cares Fund: Immediate updates to WA Cares law
Program implementation delayed by 18 months
On Jan. 27, Gov. Inslee signed a bill that delays parts of WA Cares implementation by 18 months. Most immediately, premium collection for WA Cares won’t begin until July 2023. The Employment Security Department (ESD) won’t accept any WA Cares premium payments for the first quarter of 2022.
Newly updated information and guidance is available on the WA Cares website.
For now, employers should:
You do not need to include WA Cares information on your quarterly report, but you still need to report for Paid Family and Medical Leave.
Paid Leave: Reporting for Paid Leave and WA Cares
Submitting your Quarter 1 report
Later on, you will report for Paid Leave and WA Cares Fund at the same time. In preparation of this, Employment Security Department released new file specifications for quarterly reporting last fall. However, because reporting for WA Cares now does not begin until 2023, you can file April reports using the same formatting as you have for previous quarters, or you can begin using the new specifications.
If you manually report:
- Fill out fields related to Paid Leave.
- Enter $0 in the WA Cares Premiums Withheld field. ESD won’t accept any WA Cares premium payments for the first quarter of 2022.
 If you or your TPA use the new templates for .CSV files or bulk wage files:
If you use the old templates:
- Report as you normally would.
New to reporting? Learn more and create an employer account.
While you are in your employer account:
Check that previous wage reports are submitted
- Your account will show if you have rejected reports that need attention. While you review your reports, also make sure a report is submitted and successfully processed for each quarter you had payroll.
How to check your wage report statuses
Log in to your Paid Leave account, view your “Wage Submission History” and review your quarter wage reports.
What the status means
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"Processed": You've successfully reported for that quarter.
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“Rejected”: Click “Record Errors” to review the file errors. Correct the errors in your file and resubmit.
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Don’t see a report? If you had payroll but do not have a report filed, upload any missing wage files and submit. The status will change to "Processed" within 48 hours if the report is successfully submitted. If you have trouble filing or correcting a rejected report, call our Customer Care Team.
Unemployment Insurance: SOC code reporting will be mandatory starting Q4 2022
Standard Occupational Classification codes still optional
If you use EAMS for Single Filers (also referred to as EAMS 5 or new EAMS) you may have noticed that you can include Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes when you submit your quarterly tax report.
SOC is a federal coding system that helps government agencies and private businesses compare occupational data.
Start practicing using SOC codes
Reporting SOC codes is currently optional, but you will be required to report SOC codes starting with your fourth quarter tax report. At that time, you could get a penalty for incorrect or incomplete SOC code reporting.
So, if you haven’t started reporting SOC codes, please start practicing!
Additional resources available
We’ve heard your feedback and added some handy resources to help, including:
- A short instructional video.
- A link to a SOC code search tool. Click “Browse” under the “Find Occupations” section. You’ll be able to search by keyword, SOC code or industry.
Once you’ve found your codes, you can add them to your quarterly tax report when you’re ready to file.
We’re here to help. If you have questions about SOC codes – or how to use them in your tax reports – email us at socreporting@esd.wa.gov.
National HIRE Vets Medallion award program is now accepting applications
Apply by April 30, 2022
Did you know that employers of all sizes can receive an award from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for their efforts to recruit, employ, and retain America’s Veterans?
- The HIRE Vets Medallion Program (HVMP) award highlights companies and organizations committed to hiring and retaining America’s veterans in good, family-sustaining careers
- The HVMP award is the only federal-level veterans’ employment award that recognizes employers.
- Award recipients will receive a certificate and digital images of the medallion for use as part of their marketing and promotional activities.
- The application deadline is April 30, 2022.
Visit the HIREVets.gov website to learn more about the national HVMP award program, the award criteria, the application process and fees.
The HVMP program is similar to our statewide YesVets program which recognizes Washington state employers committed to hiring Veterans. We encourage YesVets employers to apply for the national HVMP award and vice versa, Washington state HVMP winners are encouraged to sign up for the no-cost YesVets initiative.
For more information about both the HVMP and YesVets programs, email Hannah Schoepp.
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