Employment Security Department - Washington State

Employer Newsletter - July, Issue 64

Washington State Employment Security Department sent this bulletin at 07/11/2025 05:00 PM PDT

July 2025 | Issue 64

Q2 unemployment, Paid Leave, WA Cares reports and payments due by July 31, 2025

Q2 reports and payments are due by July 31. If you had no payroll for the quarter, file a “No payroll” report.

Use 2025 tax and premium rates. If you work with a third party to file your reports, remind them to use 2025 rates.

Tell us which program your payment is for

Pay separately for unemployment, WA Cares and Paid Leave. If we receive your payment with no program specified, we will first apply your payment to any unemployment tax balance, second to any Paid Leave balance, and third to any WA Cares balance. This rule went into effect in September 2024.

You can pay unemployment taxes by ACH, by check or money order.
You can pay Paid Leave and WA Cares premiums by ACH, credit or debit card, check or money order.

Use payment coupons if you pay by check or money order

Include the correct payment coupon with your check.

For unemployment tax quarterly reports

Download the unemployment payment coupon from the paying taxes page on the Employment Security Department website.
Write your ESD number on each check.

For WA Cares and Paid Leave quarterly reports

Download the Employer Wage Reporting and Premiums Toolkit from the file and pay page on the Paid Leave website. The payment coupons are in the toolkit.
Write your UBI number on each check.

Mail checks to the correct addresses for each program, found on the payment coupons.

For unemployment tax quarterly report

If you cannot pay your balance owed, ask us about a deferred payment contract. Email our Collections unit at ESCtax@esd.wa.gov.

For Paid Leave and WA Cares quarterly reports

Read about how to file reports and pay premiums on the Paid Leave website.

Join us for "WA Cares Basics: What Providers Need to Know" webinar

Before WA Cares Fund benefits begin in July 2026, WA Cares will work to register a diverse range of qualified providers for each covered long-term care service. To ensure quality care, providers must meet minimum qualifications to participate. Once registered, beneficiaries can choose from these providers, empowering them to select the services that best meet their needs in their own communities.

Join us for a "What Providers Need to Know" webinar from 11 a.m. to noon, Aug. 5.

In the webinar, we will cover:

How the WA Cares Fund works.
Types of providers, including family caregivers.
Minimum qualifications and requirements providers will need to meet.
How to register as a qualified provider.

Register

All webinars will include an opportunity for audience Q&A. Live captioning and ASL interpretation will be available.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar.

Reporting Standard Occupational Classification code or job title is required

All employers are required to include either a job title or Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code for each employee on their quarterly unemployment tax report. You cannot change an SOC code or job title once you file. If you need to change a SOC code or job title, make that change in your next quarterly filing.

Job titles and SOC codes are different

A SOC code is a six-digit number that describes someone’s work. A job title is a word or several words that describes a person’s role in a business.

Since SOC codes are numbers, they are easier to use. Go to O*NET OnLine to search for occupational titles and codes.

Reporting penalties

Washington state law requires that we assess this penalty if you knowingly fail to report the SOC code or job title for each employee on your quarterly report.

We can waive the penalty for an incomplete or incorrectly formatted tax and wage report only once every five years.

For more information, go to the Washington State Legislature website to read the law about the penalty.

Let SharedWork get you through tough economic times

Right now, businesses across Washington are facing an uncertain economic reality. But you still need to keep your organization running and look after your workers.

SharedWork can prevent layoffs with the flexibility to retain employees at reduced hours during economic downturns. SharedWork lets you tighten your belt and keep your employees.

Learn more about SharedWork on the Employment Security website.