Kentucky Employer Compliance Kit 2027: State Checklist, Deadline Calendar and Excel Tracker

Who it is for

Owners, office managers and bookkeepers who run payroll for employees working in Kentucky, from the first hire to the year-end forms.

Not the right fit if

Your employees work outside Kentucky: get that state's kit, or the 2027 Employer Compliance Bundle for several states. Not a payroll service, and not a legal review of your policies.

Why it is different

• Built only from our Kentucky data files, checked November 2026 against 11 official pages, among them Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance; Kentucky OUI: Employer Guide 2026; Kentucky Department of Revenue: 2025 Form 740-NP instructions, reciprocal agreements; Official page; U.S. Department of Labor: State Minimum Wage Laws (updated November 5, 2026); U.S. Department of Labor: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (revised July 1, 2026); KRS 337.355 Lunch period requirements; Frequently Asked Questions - Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet.
• 4 items the official pages didn't state are marked "not confirmed" with the page to check, never guessed.
• The workbook recalculates with zero formula errors and dates the Kentucky new-hire steps for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 16 confirmed Kentucky rules at a glance and the 4 items to confirm, each with the official page to check: taxable wage base for 2027 (Kentucky OUI: Employer Guide 2026); state income tax withholding (Kentucky DOR: Employer Payroll Withholding); E-Verify for private employers (House Bill 673 (2025 Regular Session) record, Kentucky General Assembly); paid sick leave (KRS 337.055: Payment of all wages or salary upon dismissal or voluntary leaving).
• Kentucky 2027 checklist. Eight steps from unemployment tax registration to year-end filing, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date, from Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance, Kentucky New Hire Reporting Center, Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet, Department of Workers' Claims. What it confirms: open a state unemployment tax account: Register in the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Program (KUIP) through the Kentucky Career Center site, then choose Employer Registration (Employer Guide 2026); taxable wage base for 2026 (the latest published): $12,000 per employee in 2026; new employer tax rate: 2.7% for a new employer; quarterly wage reports and payments: Reports and payments are due by the last day of the first month after the quarter (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31); a weekend or state holiday moves it to the next business day (Employer Guide 2026); workers who live in a neighboring state: Reciprocity partners named by the state: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin; report each new hire to the state: Within 20 days of the hire date; minimum wage now (2026): $7.25 an hour; minimum wage change in 2027: $7.25 an hour; no scheduled change in our data; tipped employees: Cash wage of at least $2.13 an hour in 2027, with tips making up the rest; meal breaks for adults: A reasonable lunch period, as close to the middle of the shift as possible, starting no sooner than 3 hours and no later than 5 hours into the shift; rest breaks for adults: A paid rest period of at least 10 minutes in each 4 hours worked, separate from the lunch period; breaks for workers under 18: Minors under 18 can't work more than 5 hours in a row without a lunch period of at least 30 minutes, and the employer records when it starts and ends; workers' compensation insurance: Every employer with one or more employees; final pay when you let someone go: By the next normal pay period after the separation or 14 days after it, whichever is later; final pay when an employee quits: By the next normal pay period after the separation or 14 days after it, whichever is later; state copies of W-2s and 1099s: Only report 1099 data to the Department when Kentucky tax has been withheld.
• 2027 deadline calendar. 10 dates our Kentucky files state: 4 quarterly due dates from Kentucky Office of Unemployment Insurance; 1 state W-2 and 1099 filing dates from Kentucky Department of Revenue, with weekend dates flagged and a month-by-month planner for your own.
• New hire and pay change checklist. One page per hire, with the report to Kentucky New Hire Reporting Center (new hires reported in 20 days) and the I-9 steps, and one per pay change against the $7.25 minimum wage.
• Kentucky compliance workbook (Excel). The Kentucky dates in a deadline tracker with days left and status, a new-hire sheet that dates each step from the start date (new hires reported in 20 days), and a pay-change sheet that flags any rate below the 2027 floor.