August 2024 | Issue 52

Paid Family & Medical Leave: Submit all reports before we calculate business size in September

We’re calculating business size on Sept. 30 for the next year. To do this, we’ll average the employee headcount you reported over the previous four quarters.

How you can benefit from an accurate count
Businesses with fewer than 50 employees do not have to pay the employer portion of premiums. Employers with 150 or fewer employees can apply for small-business assistance grants.  

Read about the grants and how we calculate business size on the Small businesses page of the Paid Leave website.

Bring your headcounts up to date
Log into your employer account and check your wage report status to make sure you have successfully submitted for every quarter, including quarters with no payroll. Each quarterly reporting period should have a status of “Processed.”

• If the status is “Rejected,” we found an issue with your submission. Correct any errors or warnings in your file and resubmit.
• If the status shows nothing, you are missing a report. Select the reporting period and choose your filing method. Upload your file, enter your employee wage data or select “I have no payroll to report.” Then submit. If the report submission was successful, the status will change to “Processed” in 24 to 48 hours. 

If our calculations show that your business size changes, we will send you a letter in November.

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

If you have a balance, you can get a deferred payment contract

Avoid a delinquent tax rate for 2024! By Sept. 30:

• File all your tax reports.
• Pay your current and past-due unemployment taxes, penalties and interest in full.

Consider a deferred payment contract if you cannot pay
Are you unable to pay your balance owed? You can protect your tax rate by getting a deferred payment contract. Email our Collections unit at ESCtax@esd.wa.gov. 

If you have a delinquent account, we charge: 

• At least one percentage point more on your regular tax rate for the first year you are delinquent. 
• Two-percentage points more if you are late two years in a row. 
• The maximum social tax rate. 

We translated three letters to claimants into eight languages

The Employment Security Department recently translated three letters that we send to every unemployment claimant. The letters will help customers with limited English proficiency file their claims successfully.

Before this project, unemployment claimants had the option to receive these letters only in English or Spanish.

Now, they can get our privacy notice in:

• Amharic
• Chinese (Simplified).
• Chinese (Traditional).
• Korean.
• Russian.
• Somali.
• Tigrinya.
• Vietnamese.

By January 2025, claimants will also be able to receive the “Your Benefit Rights and Responsibilities” and the “I applied for unemployment benefits. What is next?” letters in those same languages.

This project is one way that our agency embraces the value of equity. It demonstrates our commitment to serving all our customers equitably.

WA Cares: Join a discussion about home safety

Join a panel of experts and the WA Cares Fund for a free online discussion about home safety and preventing falls.

When: Sept. 12 from noon to 1 p.m.

Topics for discussion:

• How falls can affect older adults.
• What you can do to prevent falls.
• How to improve home safety.
• Options for home modifications.
• Mobility aids and adaptive equipment.

We’ll also give an overview of the WA Cares Fund and how it will help people live independently and safely in their own homes for longer.

Where: Online on Zoom. Register. American Sign Language interpretation and live captioning will be available. 

Small-business regulatory roundtable coming to Longview and Aberdeen

You are invited to free roundtable discussions for small-business owners — one in Longview and one in Aberdeen. Both will give you a chance to speak with representatives from various state offices and agencies. Tell them how their regulatory policies and systems might better support you.

When:

• Longview event – 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 15.
• Aberdeen event – 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29.

Both events are free, presented by the Governor’s Office for Regulatory Innovation & Assistance (ORIA).

At each roundtable, you will sit in groups of six to eight. You will be invited to share your experiences and ideas about:

• Licensing and permits.
• Tax reporting and filing.
• Agency rules.
• Customer service and communication.

Find out more about the roundtables on the ORIA website.

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