Washington 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 Washington, a state with no income tax to withhold, from the first hire to the year-end forms.

Not the right fit if

Your employees work outside Washington: 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 Washington data files, checked November 2026 against 12 official pages, among them Washington Employment Security Department (ESD); ESD: About unemployment tax rates; Washington DOR: Registration requirements; Washington DSHS Division of Child Support: New Hire Reporting; Washington L&I: Required Workplace Posters; Washington L&I: minimum wage rises to $17.73 an hour in 2027; U.S. Department of Labor: Minimum Wages for Tipped Employees (revised July 1, 2026); Paid Sick Leave Minimum Requirements (Washington L&I).
• 2 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 Washington new-hire steps for you.

What is inside

• Start here. How to use the kit, the 16 confirmed Washington rules at a glance and the 2 items to confirm, each with the official page to check: new employer tax rate (ESD: About unemployment tax rates); E-Verify for private employers (Employer Information, USCIS).
• Washington 2027 checklist. Eight steps from unemployment tax registration to year-end filing, each confirmed rule with its source link and check date, from Washington Employment Security Department (ESD), Washington DSHS: New Hire Reporting, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I). What it confirms: open a state unemployment tax account: ESD: employers with Washington employees apply for a business license through the Department of Revenue, then set up an ESD Employer Account Management System account; taxable wage base for 2027: $82,000 per employee in 2027 ($78,200 in 2026); quarterly wage reports and payments: ESD: the tax and wage report is due the last day of the month after each quarter; a weekend or state holiday moves it to the next business day; state income tax withholding: No state income tax to withhold; report each new hire to the state: Within 20 days of hire or rehire; minimum wage now (2026): $17.13 an hour; minimum wage change in 2027: Rises to $17.73 an hour on Friday, January 1, 2027; tipped employees: No tip credit: tipped staff get the full minimum wage before tips; paid sick leave: Paid sick leave (RCW 49.46.210); meal breaks for adults: A meal period of at least 30 minutes for a shift of more than 5 hours, starting between the 2nd and 5th hour; rest breaks for adults: A paid rest period of at least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked, and no more than 3 hours of work without one; breaks for workers under 18: Under 16: a 30-minute meal break by the 4th hour and a paid 10-minute break at least every 2 hours. 16 and 17: a 30-minute meal break by the 5th hour and a paid 10-minute break every 3 hours; workers' compensation insurance: Any business hiring employees must open a workers' compensation account with L&I (or be certified self-insured); final pay when you let someone go: At the end of the established pay period, whether the employee was discharged or left; final pay when an employee quits: At the end of the established pay period, whether the employee was discharged or left; state copies of W-2s and 1099s: No state income tax, so there is no state 1099 or W-2 filing to make on the pages we opened.
• 2027 deadline calendar. 10 dates our Washington files state: 4 quarterly due dates from Washington Employment Security Department (ESD); January 1, 2027: minimum wage rises to $17.73 an hour, 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 Washington DSHS: New Hire Reporting (new hires reported in 20 days) and the I-9 steps, and one per pay change against the $17.73 minimum wage from January 1.
• Washington compliance workbook (Excel). The Washington 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.