Employer Newsletter - January | Issue 30
January 2023 | Issue 30
WA Cares: Implementation timeline and new employee exemptions
Premium collection begins in July (Q3)
Worker contributions to the WA Cares Fund, the state’s new long-term care insurance program, start this summer. Beginning July 1, 2023, you must collect WA Cares premiums from your employees' wages and report their wages and hours at the end of each quarter—the same way you do now for Paid Leave. Reporting will begin October 2023 and will follow the same payment process as Paid Leave.
As an employer, you won’t pay any share of WA Cares premiums for your employees.
Previously approved exemptions are still valid
Workers who had private long-term care insurance on or before Nov. 1, 2021, were able to apply to ESD for an exemption from the WA Cares Fund until Dec. 31, 2022. Under current law, these exemptions are permanent; employees who have received an approved exemption will not be able to re-enroll in the program.
If your employees previously applied for a private insurance exemption and received an approval letter from ESD, their exemption is still valid. They do not need to re-apply.
You should keep their exemption letters on file. Employees who can’t find their exemption letter can download a copy from the Secure Access Washington account they used to apply for the exemption.
New exemption categories
Beginning Jan. 1, 2023, Washington workers became eligible for exemptions from WA Cares if any of the following apply to them:
They live outside of Washington.
They are the spouse or registered domestic partner of an active-duty service member of the U.S. armed forces.
They have non-immigrant work visas.
They are veterans with a 70% service-connected disability rating or higher.
Workers will qualify for these exemptions only as long as these circumstances apply. If workers no longer qualify for their exemption, they will be required to notify ESD and their employer within 90 days. Exception: Veterans with a 70% service-connected disability rating or higher will receive a permanent exemption.
Tracking employee exemptions
Some employees may choose to apply for an exemption from WA Cares coverage. It’s their responsibility to apply and—if approved—to notify you and give you a copy of their approval letter from ESD.
Once notified, you must:
Not deduct WA Cares premiums from employees who’ve provided an ESD exemption approval letter. Note: this letter will list the date on which the employee’s exemption takes effect.
Keep a copy of your employees’ approval letters on file.
It is the employee’s responsibility to notify you of any changes to their exemption status. Failure to do so can result in required back-payment of premiums and additional penalties.
Learn more about WA Cares exemptions
Employer resources
WA Cares resources for businesses are available online in the employer toolkit. Additional toolkit materials are in progress and will be published later this month.
To stay up to date on new developments and materials, sign up for the WA Cares mailing list.
Upcoming WA Cares basics webinar
Join the WA Cares Fund team for a webinar on WA Cares Basics: What Workers Need to Know on Jan. 18, 2023, from noon to 1 p.m. We’ll cover the basics of long-term care, how WA Cares works and provide an opportunity for audience Q&A. Live captioning and ASL interpretation will be available. Learn more and register at wacaresfund.wa.gov/webinars.
Paid Leave: Premiums to increase in 2023
Resources for employers
Paid Family & Medical Leave benefits are an increasingly vital source of support for Washington workers. To keep pace with more people using the program, and as required by law, the premium rate increased in 2023.
Starting Jan. 1, 2023:
The total premium rate is now 0.8%.
Employers pay 27.24% of the total premium and employees pay
72.76%.Employers will continue to report each employee's total gross wages, not including tips, and collect premiums up to the Social Security cap. Once an employee meets the Social Security cap, employers must stop collecting premiums but continue to report their wages.
Businesses classified by the Employment Security Department as having fewer than 50 employees are not required to pay the employer portion of the premium. However, they must still collect the employee premium or pay the employees’ premiums on their behalf.
Why the premium rate is changing
Premiums, collected from employees and employers through quarterly reporting, fund the Paid Leave program. By law, we recalculate the Paid Leave premium rate annually in October. The premium rate is adjusted based on contributions from premiums and benefits paid during the previous year.
Important details:
You can choose to withhold the entire 72.76% from your employee’s paycheck, or you can cover all or some of the premium on your employee’s behalf.
If you are using a voluntary plan for family or medical leave, your calculations may be different. Visit paidleave.wa.gov/voluntary-plans for more.
Premium withholdings are capped at the Social Security cap, which is updated annually. It is $160,200 in 2023.
Employer webinars
There’s plenty to know about 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 premium collection, quarterly reporting, payments, and more!
Join us for a live webinar
Thursday, Jan. 19, 9 to 10 a.m. – Register
This webinar is limited to 100 participants, so don’t delay in registering!
Unemployment Insurance (UI): Two changes for your fourth quarter tax report!
For your fourth quarter report, you must:
Upgrade to the latest version of Employer Account Management Services (EAMS).
Report Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes.
Join us for two instructional webinars
EAMS upgrade webinar — Friday, Jan. 20, 11 a.m. to noon — Register
Watch our recent EAMS webinar or check out the slide deck.
SOC code webinar — Monday, Jan. 23, 11 a.m. to noon – Register
Check out our previously recorded SOC code webinar or download our webinar presentation to review commonly asked questions and answers.
Upgrading to the latest version of EAMS
If you haven’t done so already, you will need to upgrade to the latest version of the Employer Account Management Services (EAMS) system before you file your fourth quarter tax report.
It’s easy:
Log into SecureAccess Washington (SAW) and sign into EAMS.
Select the upgrade link and follow the instructions.
Once you’ve upgraded in EAMS, here are a few things to know about filing your tax report:
If you file a combined unemployment tax report for multiple employers in one file, you need to use our new bulk filing format specifications.
If you file an unemployment tax report for yourself or one employer at a time, our format has changed. Learn more on our website.
When you log into SAW in the future, choose the new version of EAMS to file your taxes. You won’t be able to use the old version of EAMS to file after you upgrade.
Register for our Jan. 20 webinar or watch a recorded one.
Reporting Standard Occupational Classification codes
SOC is a federal coding system that helps government agencies and private businesses compare occupational data. All employers are now required to report SOC codes when they submit their quarterly tax reports starting with their fourth quarter 2022 report.
But don’t worry! We’re here to help.
See the SOC page on our website.
View a recorded webinar and the slide deck.
Search for occupational titles and codes.
Questions? Contact socreporting@esd.wa.gov.
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