Washington Payroll Rules

Frequency of Payments

You must pay your employees at least once per month on established paydays.

You must pay your employees within 10 days after the end of the pay period.

Manner of Payments

You may pay your employees by cash, check, or direct deposit.

Payment Upon Separation

If an employee leaves your company for any reason, you must pay them by the end of the established pay period.

Deductions

You may make the following deductions from an employee’s paycheck:

• required state or federal taxes, including the employee’s share of workers’ compensation premiums;
• a deduction that is for the employee’s benefit that the employee agreed to in advance;
• medical, surgical, or hospital care or service when the business pays for the employee’s medical, surgical, or hospital care or service and the employee agrees to the deductions; and
• court-ordered garnishments.

You may make the following deductions form an employee’s paycheck, if the incident occurred during the employee’s final pay period:

• cash shortages, if your company has established policies regarding cash acceptance, and if the employee counted money in the till before and after their shift and had sole access to the till during their shift;
• breakage, loss, or damage of equipment if caused by the employee’s dishonest or willful act;
• bad checks or credit cards accepted by the employee, if you have established check and credit card acceptance policies;
• employee theft, if you can show that the employee’s act was dishonest or willful and you filed a police report; and
• other agreements made orally or in writing.

Uniforms & Other Required Equipment or Tools

If you and your employee agree orally or in writing, you can deduct the cost of employer-supplied uniforms, if the uniforms are not returned when the employee leaves your company.

Pre-Hire Medical, Physical, & Drug Tests

Washington does not have any laws about whether you can require employees to pay for pre-hire exams.

Notice of Wage Reduction

There are no laws dictating whether you have to notify an employee about the wage reduction.

Paystubs

Each payday, you must provide each employee with a paystub, which includes the following:

• basis for pay (hourly, daily, etc.);
• rate(s) of pay;
• gross wages; and
• all deductions for pay period.

Recordkeeping

For each employee, you must keep the following records for at least three (3) years:

• name, address, and occupation;
• dates of employment;
• rate(s) of pay;
• amount paid each pay period; and
• hours worked.

Notices

Washington does not require you to post payroll-related notices.