Cost of Employment RulerEmployer cost, with every assumption exposed

Your numbers

The employee's gross annual salary, before any employer costs.
Most Washington employers are taxable and receive an annual UI rate. Certain eligible nonprofits and public employers may instead be reimbursable; that cost model is held separately rather than converted into a fake payroll percentage.
Washington generally requires workers’ compensation through the L&I State Fund or certified self-insurance. The hourly premium model below is only for State Fund employers.
Approved voluntary-plan premium calculations can differ, so this calculator only prices the Washington state plan.
Use your ESD 2026 employer status. ESD sizes businesses annually; 50+ employers owe the employer share. Under-50 employers generally do not, but a small-business assistance grant can create a three-year obligation and small employers may opt in.
Employer-paid benefits: health, retirement match, etc. Leave at 0 if none — 0 means excluded, not that the obligation is zero.
Equipment, software, workspace — anything else you want included.
Advanced — statutory rates & additional inputs
For a taxable employer, enter the total 2026 rate from your ESD annual tax-rate notice or EAMS account. The calculator applies it only to the first $78,200 of wages.
Enter only the employer-paid hourly amount for the applicable State Fund risk class. Do not enter the total composite premium: workers share part of Medical Aid, Stay at Work and Supplemental Pension, while the employer pays the Accident Fund portion.
L&I is charged per hour worked. 2,080 = a full-time year; lower it for part-time or seasonal roles, raise it for overtime-heavy ones.

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Washington employer cost calculator

Partial result — everything CER can determine without inventing your Washington employer facts

Base pay is USD $90,000.
Known federal employer subtotal is USD $96,927.

This is not a complete Washington employer total. Choose whether this employer pays Washington unemployment insurance as a taxable employer or reimburses benefit charges.

What CER can calculate now

Known employer-paid components before unresolved Washington-specific costs
Employer-paid itemEstimate
Social Security (employer)USD $5,580
Medicare (employer)USD $1,305
FUTA (net of maximum credit)USD $42

What is still needed for the Washington layer

  • UI payment method: taxable or reimbursable.
  • Workers' compensation method: L&I State Fund or certified self-insured.
  • Paid Leave plan type: Washington state plan or approved voluntary plan.

CER withholds only the complete Washington total. It does not turn an unknown into zero, and it does not ask a self-insured, reimbursable, or voluntary-plan employer for a rate belonging to the wrong model.

Employee-funded item kept out of employer cost

WA Cares (employee-withheld): USD $522. WA Cares is employee-funded and is never added to the employer subtotal.

Primary authorities used on this page

Employer-specific UI and L&I amounts must come from the employer's own Washington notices or classifications. Paid Leave applicability must come from the employer's actual ESD status; CER does not infer a missing answer.

Planning estimate from user-entered assumptions and published rate tables. Employer-specific Washington costs remain withheld until the required fact or supported branch is available. Not payroll, tax, legal, or classification advice.

What this Washington result covers

Washington employer cost depends on how your business pays unemployment, workers’ compensation, and Paid Leave. The route asks which regime applies before pricing it.

Included in this result

  • Federal Social Security, Medicare and supported FUTA
  • Washington unemployment for taxable employers using your assigned rate
  • Employer-paid L&I for State Fund employers using your hourly amount
  • State-plan Paid Leave where the employer share applies
  • Benefits and overhead you enter

Not included in this result

  • Reimbursable UI cost, certified self-insurance cost, and approved voluntary-plan pricing when this route cannot model them correctly
  • Employee-funded WA Cares, shown separately rather than added to employer cost

Employer input / scope: Choose your UI payment method, workers’ compensation method, Paid Leave plan/status, and enter the assigned rates that apply to your business.