PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Employer records, specifying the number of years employment, business and financial records are to be retained and detailing the information to be maintained in those records.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: RCW 50.12.010 and 50.12.040.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: To amend current WAC 192-12-050 and make it conform to Governor Locke's Executive Order 97-02. This WAC is being renumbered WAC 192-310-050 as part of our regulatory reform process at the Employment Security Department. In addition our department is keeping more in agreement with the Department of Labor and Industries' WAC 296 17-35201 Recordkeeping and retention adopted in 1995. We have maintained our unique subsection (j) relating to discharge of workers and the cause of quits, if known. We have removed the section on farm operators and created a separate rule. In addition we have clarified the language of our rule to make it easier to understand and administer.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: The other state agencies that have similar rules are the Department of Labor and Industries and the Department of Revenue. As stated above we are amending our rule to be closer to that of the Department of Labor and Industries while still maintaining the unique applicability of section (j) relating to discharge and/or quits that are applicable to unemployment insurance statutes and rules.
Process for Developing New Rule: Informal meetings with stakeholders and interested parties.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by contacting George Mante, UI Tax Regulatory Reform Coordinator, UI Tax Administration, Employment Security Department, P.O. Box 9046, Olympia, WA 98507-9046, fax (360) 902-9556.
April 30, 1999
Carver Gayton
Commissioner
The commissioner requires every employer to keep true and accurate business, financial, and employment records which are deemed necessary for the effective administration of Chapter 50.12 RCW.
Every employer shall with respect to each worker, make, keep, and preserve original records containing all of the following information for four calendar years following the calendar year in which employment occurred:
a. The name of each worker;
b. The Social Security number of each worker;
c. The beginning date of employment for each worker and, if applicable, the separation date of employment of each worker;
d. The basis upon which wages and/or remuneration are paid to each worker;
e. The location where such services were performed;
f. A summary time record for each worker showing the calendar day or days of the week work was performed and the actual number of hours worked each day;
g. The workers’ total gross pay period earnings;
h. The specific sums withheld from the earnings of each worker, and the purpose of each sum withheld to equate to net pay; and
i. The cause for any discharge where a worker was separated from the job due to discharge; or the cause of any quit where a worker quit the job if the cause for the quit is known.
[]
The following sections of the Washington Administrative Code are repealed:
| WAC 192-12-050 | Employer records. |