Ohio 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 Ohio, from the first hire to the year-end forms.

Not the right fit if

Your employees work outside Ohio: 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 Ohio data files, checked November 2026 against 11 official pages, among them ODJFS: Employer Page; ODJFS: 2026 Rates (rate details); Ohio Department of Taxation: 2026 Employer and School District Withholding Tax Filing Guidelines (Rev. 11/25); Ohio Revised Code 3121.893; Ohio Revised Code 4151.02: Employee verification (effective March 20, 2026); Ohio Department of Commerce: Ohio minimum wage to increase by 3.5% in 2027; U.S. Department of Labor: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (revised July 1, 2026); Labor Law (Ohio.gov jobs topic hub).
• 7 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 Ohio new-hire steps for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 13 confirmed Ohio rules at a glance and the 7 items to confirm, each with the official page to check: taxable wage base for 2027 (ODJFS: 2026 Rates (rate details)); state income tax withholding (Ohio Department of Taxation: Ohio IT 3 Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements (Rev. 11/23)); meal breaks for adults (Ohio Revised Code 4109.07, Restrictions on hours of employment); rest breaks for adults (Ohio Revised Code 4109.07, Restrictions on hours of employment); final pay when you let someone go (Ohio Revised Code 4113.15: Semimonthly payment of wages); final pay when an employee quits (Ohio Revised Code 4113.15: Semimonthly payment of wages); state copies of W-2s and 1099s (Ohio Department of Taxation: Ohio IT 3 Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements (Rev. 11/23)).
• Ohio 2027 checklist. Eight steps from unemployment tax registration to year-end filing, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date, from Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Office of Unemployment Insurance Operations, Ohio Revised Code 3121.893, Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC). What it confirms: open a state unemployment tax account: ODJFS: new employers register under Register for an Account, then Employers; taxable wage base for 2026 (the latest published): $9,000 per employee in 2026; new employer tax rate: 2.7% for a new employer; quarterly wage reports and payments: Ohio Administrative Code 4141-11-01: quarterly contribution and wage reports are due no later than the last day of the month after the quarter; workers who live in a neighboring state: Reciprocity partners named by the state: Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; report each new hire to the state: Not later than 20 days after the date the employer hires the employee; e-Verify for private employers: Nonresidential construction contractors, subcontractors and labor brokers must verify each employee hired for a nonresidential construction project through E-Verify; minimum wage now (2026): $11.00 an hour; minimum wage change in 2027: Rises to $11.40 an hour on Friday, January 1, 2027; tipped employees: Cash wage of at least $5.70 an hour in 2027 ($5.50 in 2026), with tips making up the rest; paid sick leave: No statewide paid sick leave law for private employers; breaks for workers under 18: A minor can't work more than 5 consecutive hours without a rest period of at least 30 minutes, and the rest period doesn't count toward hours worked; workers' compensation insurance: Employers with one or more employees, set up through BWC on form U-3.
• 2027 deadline calendar. 11 dates our Ohio files state: 4 quarterly due dates from Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Office of Unemployment Insurance Operations; January 1, 2027: minimum wage rises to $11.40 an hour; 1 state W-2 and 1099 filing dates from Ohio Department of Taxation, 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 Ohio Revised Code 3121.893 (new hires reported in 20 days) and the I-9 steps, and one per pay change against the $11.40 minimum wage from January 1.
• Ohio compliance workbook (Excel). The Ohio 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.