Washington Administrative Code

An application that is incomplete may be returned to you for completion. If the application is not returned to you for completion, the department will contact you to obtain the information needed to complete the application. The filing of an incomplete application does not extend…

(1) The department will consider the following factors when reviewing your application for training benefits:(a) Whether you have a current benefit year as required by RCW 50.22.010(9);(b) Your plan for completion of the training;(c) For each of the following categories of worker…

(1) This section does not apply to dislocated workers eligible under RCW 50.22.155 (2)(a)(i). Approval of training for these individuals is not contingent upon the availability of funding.(2) For all other claimants eligible for training benefits under RCW 50.22.155, payment is c…

A training plan may be approved in an occupation not in demand in your local labor market if:(1) The occupation is in high demand in another labor market; and(2) You are willing and able to relocate to that labor market when the training is completed; and(3) There is not a curren…

(1) In order to continue your eligibility for training benefits, the certification that you are making satisfactory progress in training must be signed by the registrar or an equivalent person designated by your educational institution. Except for dislocated workers eligible unde…

(1) You must notify the department by using the department's online services or by mail prior to making a significant modification to your approved training plan. A significant modification is one that impacts any of the approval criteria listed in WAC 192-270-050 and includes, b…

(1) You are not unemployed during a week if:(a) You work the number of hours consistent with full-time work for your occupation; or(b) Your gross earnings equal or exceed one and one-third times your weekly benefit amount plus five dollars.(2) There are two earnings deductions fo…

(1) In order to represent an employer before the department, a representative from a third party must file with the department a power of attorney in a form acceptable to the department. The department may accept a signed power of attorney form by fax or in other electronic form.…

When a business changes its address, the business must notify the department in writing within 30 days of the address change. The notification from the business must include its employment security department number, the previous address of the business, and the current address o…

(1) Some nonprofit organizations, states and political subdivisions of the state, and Indian tribes may qualify under chapters 50.44 and 50.50 RCW as reimbursable employers which reimburse the department for unemployment benefits actually paid to separated employees instead of pa…

(1) An employer that has no employees or covered corporate officers for eight consecutive quarters is automatically considered an inactive employer at the end of the eighth consecutive quarter.(2) An active employer may change to inactive status if the employer notifies the depar…

The exemption in RCW 50.04.150 for family members employed on "corporate farms" applies regardless of the structure of the legal entity, including to a spouse or domestic partner or unmarried child under eighteen of a corporate officer, limited liability company (LLC) member, or …

The commissioner may enter into interstate reciprocal coverage agreements with other states for the purpose of covering services performed by a person for a single employer where the services were performed in more than one state (RCW 50.12.060). These services are to be consider…

The department applies RCW 50.04.165 and 50.24.160 to establish the election of coverage for unemployment insurance by employers where personal services are not considered employment under the law:(1) RCW 50.24.160 allows any employing unit to request unemployment insurance cover…

(RCW 50.24.170.)(1) Any two or more employers may form joint accounts (consolidate) for the purposes of reporting and dealing with the department.(2) Joint accounts must be acceptable to the department and cannot:(a) Impair any obligation by these employers to the department;(b) …

The department may establish branch accounts for a single registered employer. All branch accounts shall be consolidated for purposes of establishing a single tax rate for the employer.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50.12.010 and 50.12.040. WSR 07-23-127, § 192-300-185, filed 11/21/07…

Businesses identified in RCW 50.04.080 and 50.04.090 include business entities such as limited liability companies, limited liability partnerships, etc. There is no employer-employee relationship in the services provided to the business by the owners, as defined in RCW 50.04.100.…

A "professional employer organization," as further defined in RCW 50.04.298(1), is a person or entity that enters into an agreement with one or more client employers to provide professional employer services in a coemployment relationship. The professional employer services may i…

(1) Both professional employer organizations and client employers must comply with all applicable state laws. Professional employment agreements may not allocate rights and obligations between professional employer organizations and client employers other than in compliance with …

(1) Effective January 1, 2008, each professional employer organization and each client employer shall be assigned an individual tax rate based on its own experience.(2)(a) This subsection applies to professional employer organizations and client employers which have a coemploymen…

(1) A professional employer organization may collect and make payments on behalf of a client employer, but the client employer remains liable for the payments of any taxes, interest, or penalties due.(2) Unless the professional employer organization has already notified the depar…

(1) Business license application. Every person or unit with one or more individuals performing services for it in the state of Washington must file a business license application with the department of revenue.(2) Employer registration:(a) Every employer shall register with the d…

(1) Taxes must be paid each quarter. Each quarterly payment must include the taxes owed on all wages paid during that calendar quarter. Payments are due to the department by the last day of the month following the end of the calendar quarter for which taxes are due. Payments made…

(1) A payment received with a tax report will be applied to the quarter for which the report is filed. A payment exceeding the legal fees, penalties, interests and taxes due for that quarter will be applied to any other debt as provided in subsection (2). If no debt exists, a cre…

(1) Penalty for late tax and wage reports. An employer who does not file a tax or wage report within the time frame required by WAC 192-310-010 (3)(d) must pay a penalty of $25 for each violation, unless the penalty is waived by the department.(2) Definition of incomplete or inco…

(1) If an employer does not report hours worked and a former employee applies for benefits, the department will estimate the hours worked as follows:(a) For Washington reportable wages, the department will divide the reported wages by the state's minimum wage (RCW 49.46.020) in e…

This section defines the hours that employers must include on the quarterly tax and wage report.(1) Vacation pay. Report the number of hours an employee is on paid leave. Do not report payments made in place of vacation time as hours worked.(2) Sick leave pay. As provided in RCW …

The commissioner requires every employer to keep true and accurate business, financial, and employment records which are deemed necessary for the effective administration of chapter 50.12 RCW. (1) Employment records. Every employer shall with respect to each worker, make, keep, a…

(1) Farm operators and farm labor contractors must keep the records required under WAC 192-310-050.(2) Farm operators who contract with a crew leader or a farm labor contractor must keep original records containing the following information:(a) The beginning and ending dates of t…

"Tips as wages" are those tips an employee is required to report to the employer by federal law.(1) The employer must report tips each quarter on an "as paid" basis. Tips are considered paid when the employee reports them to the employer for federal income tax purposes; or when t…

(1) The employer should not report the value of meals or lodging provided to an employee for the convenience of the employer unless the value equals twenty-five percent or more of the employee's total pay during a pay period. Meals or lodging provided on the employer's premises o…

(1) A person who is participating in a performance for an employer in subsection (2) of this section is not considered to be in employment if the person receives no remuneration other than a nominal stipend. (2) This section only applies to employers that are classified in the No…

"Casual labor" that is not in the course of the employer's trade or business and does not promote or advance the employer's trade or business is not considered employment. This exemption only applies to services such as yard work or minor repair work which is performed for a priv…

Musicians or entertainers who contract to perform specific engagements with a purchaser are not considered in employment when they provide no other duties for the purchaser and are not regularly and continuously employed by the purchaser. This exemption only applies if the primar…

(Relating to RCW 50.20.140, 50.12.290, 50.44.045, 50.24.160, and 50.04.170.)(1) Employers who are responsible for unemployment insurance coverage of their employees must post and maintain printed notices to individuals who are employed by the employer. The notices provide informa…

(1) This section applies if your claim for benefits is based on wages from a corporation that are 25 percent or more of your total covered base year wages and you are an officer of that corporation who:(a) Owns 10 percent or more of the outstanding stock or shares of the corporat…

As used in this chapter, the term "experience" includes matters that have a direct relation to the risk of unemployment. Any benefits paid that are based on wages paid by the employer and chargeable under RCW 50.29.021 are considered experience.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50.12.010…

(1) Any benefits paid which are based on wages paid by the predecessor employer before the transfer of ownership must be charged to the successor employer. Just as the successor employer gets the organization, trade, business, assets, and experience of a predecessor employer as o…

(1) Beginning in rate year 2008, unemployment insurance tax rates for new employers shall be based on the history factor of new employers over the last three fiscal years applied to the experience tax and the social cost factor tax for each industry. The history factor shall be n…

(1) An employer that has not submitted by September 30th all reports, taxes, interest, and penalties required under Title 50 RCW for the period preceding July 1st of any year is not a "qualified employer."(2) For purposes of this section, the department will disregard unpaid taxe…

(1) The department may, at its discretion, recalculate the tax rate for any employer if it determines, within three years of the July 1 computation date, that the rate as originally computed was erroneous.(2) Except as provided in subsection (1) of this section, an employer must …

For purposes of RCW 50.29.021, a contribution-paying base year employer may request relief from certain benefit charges which result from the payment of benefits to an individual. This section does not apply to local governments.(1) Employer added to a monetary determination as t…

(1) Application for relief. The department will consider an employer's application to have a portion of unemployment benefits paid to an approved employee paid by the COVID-19 unemployment account instead of charged to its experience rating account if the employer:(a) Submits an …

(1) A contribution-paying base year employer, who has not been granted relief of charges under RCW 50.29.021(2), may request relief of charges for a voluntary quit not attributable to the employer under RCW 50.29.021(3) and WAC 192-320-065. This section does not apply to local go…

(1)(a) An employer will be deemed to be continuing to furnish or make available part-time work to the individual in substantially the same amount as during the individual's base year if the employer is continuing to furnish or make available hours, with respect to a week in the b…

For purposes of RCW 50.29.021 (2)(j), the benefits paid under a combined-wage claim, as that term is defined by 20 C.F.R. Sec. 616.6, filed in a state other than Washington, and Washington is the transferring state, as that term is defined by 20 C.F.R. Sec. 616.6, will be charged…

(1) If a claimant voluntarily quits work to accept a job with a new employer, 100 percent of benefits paid on the claim will be charged to the new employer when this new employer is the claimant's last employer, a base period employer, and a contribution-paying employer.(2) If a …

Benefits will be charged to the quarter containing the first day of the week claimed, regardless of when the department actually pays the claimant for the week claimed.[Statutory Authority: RCW 50.12.010 and 50.12.040. WSR 16-21-013, § 192-320-077, filed 10/7/16, effective 11/14/…

For the purposes of RCW 50.29.021 (3)(a)(iii):(1) "Catastrophic occurrence" includes the presence of any dangerous, contagious, or infectious disease that is the subject of a public health emergency at the employer's plant, building, worksite, or other facility that causes the em…

(1) When an employer incorrectly reports an individual's wages or hours, and the claim becomes invalid due to a later correction in wages or hours, the department will charge that employer one hundred percent of benefits paid to that individual, except as provided in subsection (…