Hiring your first employee in Washington adds several separate agencies. Each has its own account, rate, and deadline. Here is the list.
The filings
- Department of Revenue (DOR): B&O tax on gross receipts, plus sales tax where it applies. Filed on the schedule DOR assigns your account, monthly, quarterly, or annually.
- Employment Security Department (ESD): unemployment insurance, reported quarterly. New employers are assigned a rate based on their industry (115% of the industry average for 2026).
- Labor & Industries (L&I): workers' compensation, reported quarterly and based on hours worked. Employees pay a share of the premium. L&I reports workers pay about 24% on average.
- Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML): the 2026 premium is 1.13% of gross wages up to the Social Security cap. Employees pay about 71.43% of it. Employers with 50 or more employees pay about 28.57%. Smaller employers do not owe the employer share.
- WA Cares Fund: 0.58% of gross wages, withheld from employee paychecks and reported quarterly. Employers are not required to pay it on the employee's behalf.
- Federal payroll taxes: deposits and quarterly Form 941, plus W-2s and 1099s at year end.
Rules that catch new employers
- The 2026 Washington minimum wage is $17.13 an hour, and it rises to $17.73 on January 1, 2027.
- Paid sick leave accrues at one hour for every 40 worked, for all employees.
- Late filings carry penalties at nearly every agency, and a missed account registration is the common starting point.
Why this is the part people hand off
None of these filings is hard on its own. The risk is several calendars, logins, and penalty schedules for a business that also has to run. Handling them is exactly what the Operating Package covers.