September 2023 | Issue 39

Paid Leave & WA Cares

How to prepare for Q3 reporting changes

When submitting your Q3 wage report in October, you will now report Paid Leave and WA Cares premiums from employees at the same time on the same report.

New (v8) CSV file specifications and templates are now available on the Paid Leave website. The new file format now includes fields for employee date of birth and WA Cares exemption status.

Prepare your test file according to the new CSV specifications and CSV template. We recommend employers or employer agents test their file formats prior to the reporting due date(s).

WA Cares exemptions

ESD is currently processing a high volume of exemption applications. Approved exemptions from workers who submitted their applications before July 1 will have an effective exemption date of July 1, 2023, regardless of when their application is approved. In some cases, this may mean you will be deducting premiums from workers' wages before they are able to provide you a copy of their exemption approval letter. Once they provide their exemption approval letter, we encourage you to return their deductions at your earliest convenience since ESD will not assess premiums for these workers for any part of Q3.

Workers who submit exemption applications on or after July 1, and are approved, will be issued an effective exemption date starting the quarter following the date the exemption was approved, and will be assessed premiums for all of Q3.

Once ESD processes an application, we send a confirmation email to the customer. If an applicant would like an update on the status of their application, we suggest they log into their SAW account. We ask that they avoid calling our customer care team to ask about status. Our agents cannot quote processing timelines for individual applications.

Live webinar: Employer Account Roles and Contact Types

There’s plenty to know about WA Cares and Paid Leave, and we’re committed to making your experience as easy as possible with helpful info and resources. Join us for an employer-focused webinar, where we'll cover Paid Leave and WA Cares employer account roles and contact types.

• Thursday, Sept. 21, 11 a.m. to noon — Register now!
  This webinar is limited to 200 participants, so don’t delay in registering!

Live webinar: Updated Reporting Requirements

Are you looking for more in-depth conversations around WA Cares and Paid Leave reporting requirements? Join us for an employer-focused webinar where we will discuss reporting requirements that start October 2023: date of birth, no payroll, and WA Cares exemption reporting.

• Thursday, Sept. 28, 11 a.m. to noon — Register now!
  This webinar is limited to 200 participants, so don’t delay in registering!

Recorded webinars

Searching for past webinars? Find them on the WA Cares website.

Unemployment Insurance (UI): Act before Sept. 30 to protect your tax rate

Protect your tax rate with a deferred payment contract

Avoid a delinquent tax rate for 2024 by filing all tax reports and paying all current and past-due unemployment taxes, penalties and interest in full by Sept. 30. Employers with delinquencies are charged: 

• At least a one percentage point increase in their regular tax rate the first year they’re delinquent. 
• A two-percentage point increase if they’re late a second consecutive year. 
• The maximum shared-cost (social) tax rate. 

Consider a deferred payment contract if you can’t pay 

If you can’t pay the balance owed, you can still protect your tax rate by getting a deferred payment contract. Start by emailing Employment Security Department’s Collections unit at ESCtax@esd.wa.gov. 

Improve the lives of people with disabilities

If you are interested in disability justice and want to influence state decision makers, apply to become a volunteer member of the Washington State Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues & Employment (GCDE).

The GCDE is currently recruiting for three committee members. Application deadline is Oct. 13, 2023. The committee has 25 volunteer members appointed by the governor. They serve a 3-year term with the possibility of being appointed to a second 3-year term.

All new members will be appointed by Gov. Inslee to serve terms starting January 2024.

Committee members can live anywhere in Washington state. They must have a disability; have a family member with a disability; or provide services to, or be an advocate for, people with disabilities.

Members identify issues and concerns about the rights and needs of people with disabilities, making recommendations to the governor, state Legislature, state agencies, the business community and the public.

GCDE members serve on subcommittees that work on a variety of projects, such as community outreach, the Youth Leadership Forum and an employer awards program. New members are asked to serve on one or two subcommittees that most interest them.

To apply and to find out more about member qualifications and responsibilities, go to the GCDE Become a member page.

Learn more about GCDE and its current members. The GCDE is embedded in the Employment Security Department.

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