Washington 2025 Pay Stub Requirements: Key Guidelines for Employers
If you're running a business in Washington, it's crucial to understand pay stub requirements for employees and contractors.
This guide outlines the relevant laws and regulations to help you stay compliant.
Pay stub regulations in Washington
1. Are pay stubs required by law in Washington?
Employers in Washington must provide their employees with pay stubs every payday.
2. How often do you need a pay stub in Washington?
You will need to pay your employees on a monthly basis. As pay stubs are mandatory in Washington, you will need to provide pay stubs every time you pay your employees.
3. What information can be included on a pay stub in Washington?
The following information must be included in employee pay stubs:
- The pay basis (e.g., hours or days worked, piece rate basis, or salary)
- Rate or rates of pay
- Gross wages
- All deductions for the pay period
- All records required for paid sick leave
4. Does Washington have a state income tax?
No, state income taxes are not applicable to employees in the state of Washington.
5. Are there any other taxes applicable to Washington?
No. There are no local taxes in addition to federal income taxes applicable to employees in the state of Washington.
Essential Information for Generating Accurate Paychecks in Washington
To create accurate paychecks for employees in Washington, the following details are required:
- The employee’s status for Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) and Washington state industrial insurance coverage.
The applicable Labor and Industries (LNI) rate for the employee.
Washington wage and hour laws
Under Washington wage and hour statutes, employers are obliged to provide non-exempt employees with minimum wage, overtime pay, meal, and rest intervals, and accrued paid time-off benefits.
Law regulates the following aspects:
Minimum wage
Washington law requires employers to pay employees at least the specified minimum hourly wage as mandated by legislation.
The minimum wage per hour in Washington will be $16.28 starting January 1, 2024, and $16.66 starting January 1, 2025.
Overtime Pay
In Washington state, overtime pay is mandated as 1.5 times the regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a week.
The regular hourly rate must not fall below the state's minimum wage.
To calculate overtime, employers follow two steps: first, determine the employee's regular hourly rate, then multiply it by 1.5 for each hour over 40 in a week.
Washington law doesn't require overtime for hours worked beyond 8 in a day.
Meal breaks
All employees are entitled to a meal period lasting at least 30 minutes for every 5 hours worked. If their workday exceeds 11 hours, they must have an additional 30-minute meal period.
Meal periods are unpaid, provided employees are completely relieved of duties. Employers are responsible for ensuring that workers receive their meal periods.
Rest break
All employees are entitled to a paid rest period of at least 10 minutes for every 4 hours worked, during which they are relieved of duties. This right to paid rest breaks cannot be waived by either the worker or the employer.
Paid time off and leave
Employers in Washington are required to provide employees with both mandatory and optional leave benefits.
| Required Leave | Non-Required leave | |
|---|---|---|
| paid | Unpaid | Paid or Unpaid |
| The Paid Family and Medical Leave program, overseen by the Employment Security Department, provides most employees in Washington with up to 12 weeks of paid leave. Eligibility requires working a minimum of 820 hours (approximately 16 hours per week) during the qualifying period, which spans 12-18 months before the leave application date. | Military leave | Vacation leave |
| Employees earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. | Jury Duty leave | Bereavement leave |
| Holiday leave | ||
| Voting leave | ||
Washington state payroll taxes 2025
In Washington, payroll taxes are categorized as:
- Washington State Unemployment Tax (UI)
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Tax
- Premiums for state workers' compensation insurance
Washington State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
The State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) was established to aid individuals facing unemployment by furnishing them with unemployment benefits. This program enables states to amass funds, which are subsequently allocated for the provision of unemployment insurance benefits to those who are jobless.
SUTA rates range from 1.25% to 8.15% in 2025
The taxable wage base is $72,800 in 2025
Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFL) Tax
- The total premium rate will increase to 0.92%.
- Employers will cover 28.48% of the total premium, while employees will contribute 71.52%.
- Businesses categorized by the Employment Security Department as having fewer than 50 employees for the 2025 calendar year are exempt from paying the employer portion of the premium. However, they must still collect the employee premium or cover employees’ premiums on their behalf.
Premiums for state workers' compensation insurance
The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has approved a 3.8 percent rise in the average worker's compensation premium rate for 2025. Effective January 1, 2025, this increase signifies that employers and employees collectively will bear an average additional cost of $52.50 per year in workers' compensation insurance premiums for each full-time employee (about $48.40 per full time employee after retro refunds). Similar to the previous year, workers will cover approximately a quarter of the premium.
Washington tax filing
- Report of New Employees
- Report of Independent Contractors
- Filing a Quarterly tax and wage Report
- Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Tax quarterly report
- Premiums for state workers' compensation insurance quarterly report
Report of New Employees
In Washington, employers are required to report new hires to the Washington New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of their start date of employment. This can be accomplished by submitting Form W-4.
How to report employees' new hire in Washington?
You can use any of the following options to report new hiring.
| Online | Fax | |
|---|---|---|
| Washington New Hire Reporting Center | Address Information: P.O. Box 9023 Olympia, WA 98507 Public Phone: 800-562-0479 Email: dcshire@dshs.wa.gov | Fax 1: 800-782-0624 |
Report of Independent Contractors
Washington employers are not obligated to report independent contractors.
Filing a Quarterly tax and wage Report( WA 5208A, 5208B )
If you employ workers in Washington, you're likely responsible for paying unemployment taxes on their wages in the state. Tax reports or combined tax and wage reports are required quarterly. Responsible employers must file a tax report every quarter, regardless of whether there were any paid employees during that period or if taxes couldn't be paid.
| Reporting Period | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Quarter 1 | April 30 |
| Quarter 2 | July 31 |
| Quarter 3 | October 31 |
| Quarter 4 | January 31 |
Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Tax quarterly report
As a Washington employer, you must provide reports on your employees' wages and hours and pay premiums quarterly.
| Reporting Period | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Quarter 1 | April 30 |
| Quarter 2 | July 31 |
| Quarter 3 | October 31 |
| Quarter 4 | January 31 |
Premiums for state workers' compensation insurance quarterly report
L&I offers a program to aid struggling businesses by enabling them to establish a workers' compensation premium payment plan for up to 90 days, thereby avoiding penalties and interest. Even if your business had no employees during the quarter, you still need to submit a quarterly report indicating zero hours worked.
| Quarter | Report period | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter 1 | January 1 - March 31 | April 30 |
| Quarter 2 | April 1 - June 30 | July 31 |
| Quarter 3 | July 1 - September 30 | October 31 |
| Quarter 4 | October 1 - December 31 | January 31 |
Have all the information handy?
With SecurePayStubs, you can calculate accurate federal and Washington state taxes for your employees and generate pay stubs securely.
Simplifying Pay Stub Creation for Washington Employers
Managing payroll manually can be time-consuming, especially with frequent updates to laws. As a Washington business owner, it’s important to focus on your core operations instead of getting bogged down by payroll intricacies.
With SecurePayStubs, creating professional pay stubs for your employees and contractors in Washington is quick and hassle-free. The platform simplifies the payroll process by calculating federal and state tax deductions, allowing you to generate accurate pay statements in just a few steps.
Simply enter the required details for your employees, select the appropriate pay stub template, and let SecurePayStubs automatically generate the necessary pay information. This helps you save valuable time while ensuring that you stay compliant with federal and state requirements.
SecurePayStubs handles the calculations, so you can focus on growing your business
This article has been updated from its original publication date of February 15, 2025.