Washington workers' compensation (overview)

Workers' compensation (WC) insurance for employers is administered by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries (WA L&I). Since this is administered through the state instead of a third party, employers are required to process WC through payroll.

This tax is reconciled quarterly with Form WA F212-055-000. Intuit Full Service Payroll provides a worksheet to help you prepare the original form provided by L&I. Below is an overview of the tax calculations and form instructions.

Get your worker's comp rates

There are two ways to find your rates:

  1. The WA L&I rate notice mailed to your business address

    See an example rate notice here:
  2. The WA L&I website
    1. Go to https://secure.lni.wa.gov/verify/
    2. From the drop-down arrow, select WA UBI No.
    3. Enter the business UBI account number
    4. Click the search icon .
    5. Click your business name.
    6. Click workers' comp rates.
    7. Your rates are displayed in the risk classifications section.
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How worker's comp is calculated

Hourly employees

Only actual hours worked are used when determining the WC calculation. Vacation, sick, holiday pay and so on, should not be counted, even if it's paid leave.

The formula for WC calculations is: rate x hours worked.

Example
  • 80 hours are worked during the pay period.
  • The payroll deduction rate is 0.59695
  • The composite rate is 3.3423

To calculate the payroll deduction:

To calculate the employer contribution:

  1. Determine the employer contribution rate by subtracting the payroll deduction rate from the composite rate: Composite rate (3.3423) - Payroll deduction rate (0.59695) = Employer contribution rate (2.74535)
  2. Multiply hours worked by the employer contribution rate: 80 x 2.74535 = 219.63

Commission employees

Only actual hours worked should be used when determining the WC calculation. Vacation, sick, holiday pay and so on, should not be counted, even if it's paid leave.

We don't support the WC calculation for an employee who is primarily hourly, but also receives secondary commission pay based off hours.

The formula for WC calculations is: rate x hours worked

Example
  • Check date: 1/1/2017
  • 86.67 hours are worked during the pay period.
  • The payroll deduction rate is 0.59695
  • The composite rate is 3.3423

To calculate the payroll deduction:

To calculate the employer contribution:

  1. Determine the employer contribution rate by subtracting the payroll deduction rate from the composite rate: Composite rate (3.3423) - Payroll deduction rate (0.59695) = Employer contribution rate (2.74535)
  2. Multiply hours worked by the employer contribution rate: 80 x 2.74535 = 219.63

Salaried employees

According to the WA L&I Record Keeping and Reporting Guide (page 4), salaried employee hours are calculated at 160 hours per month, or 480 hours per quarter. Intuit Full Service Payroll calculates WC on the employee's first paycheck of the month.

Example
  • Check date: 1/1/2017
  • 86.67 hours are worked during the pay period.
  • The payroll deduction rate is 0.59695
  • The composite rate is 3.3423

To calculate the payroll deduction:

Multiple 160 hours by the payroll deduction rate: 160 x 0.59695 = 91.12 (amount withheld from the employee's check)

To calculate the employer contribution:

  1. Determine the employer contribution rate by subtracting the payroll deduction rate from the composite rate: Composite rate (3.3423) - Payroll deduction rate (0.59695) = Employer rate (2.74535)
  2. Multiply 160 hours by the employer contribution rate: 160 x 2.74535 = 439.26
Example
  • Check date: 1/15/2017
  • 86.67 hours are worked during the pay period.

No WC is calculated since the calculation is only done on the first check of the month.

See also