Beginning with fourth quarter unemployment insurance tax reports, employers must include Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes as well as upgrade to the latest version of Employer Account Management Services (EAMS) before filing.

Standard Occupational Classification Code Reporting

SOC is a federal system that helps government agencies and private businesses compare occupational data. While previously employers could elect to include SOC codes when submitting quarterly tax reports, beginning with employers’ 2022 fourth quarter tax report, which will be due Jan. 31, 2023, SOC code reporting will be required. There are currently 867 occupation codes, each made up of six numbers, and dentistry codes can be found below:

• Dentists, General; 29-1021
• Dentists, All Other Specialists; 29-1029
• Dental Hygienists; 29-1292
• Dental Assistants; 31-9091
• Dental Laboratory Technicians; 51-9081
• Expanded Function Dental Auxiliary; 31-9099
• Dental Front Office Staff; 43-6013

Employers with incorrect or incomplete reporting could face a penalty, and more information can be found on the Employment Security Department (ESD) SOC page.

SOC Questions?

ESD is hosting free webinars for employers on SOC reporting, and the next webinar is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 12 from 11:00 AM to noon. Registration information will soon be available on the ESD SOC page, and for those who are unable to attend, a recording of a previous SOC reporting webinar can be found here. For specific questions, employers can reach out to socreporting@esd.wa.gov.

Employer Account Management Services Update

Before filing fourth quarter tax reports, employers will need to upgrade to the most recent version of EAMS. While all employers must upgrade prior to filing their 2022 fourth quarter tax report, ESD is opening eligibility for employers to upgrade in batches. When an employer has been made eligible, an upgrade alert should come up after logging into SecureAccess Washington (SAW). To check if you are able to upgrade, follow the steps below:

• Log into SecureAccess Washington (SAW) and sign into EAMS.
• If you’re eligible to upgrade, you will see an upgrade alert at the top of the page.
• Select the link and follow the instructions.

After upgrading in EAMS, filing your unemployment tax reports may change. Employers that file a combined unemployment tax report for multiple employers in one file will need to use the new ESD bulk filing format specifications. Additionally, wage file formats for single filers have changed, and ESD now accepts only the following data formats:

• Comma-delimited file (.csv) 
• Tab-delimited text file (.txt)
• Excel spreadsheet (.xls or. xlsx)

EAMS Questions?

ESD provides more detailed instructions on upgrading in EAMS on the ESD EAMS page, and further specifics on how wage files must be formatted can be found here. ESD is also hosting a free employer webinar on EAMS Friday, Dec. 9 from 11:00 AM to noon, and those interested can register here. Finally, ESD has also made available a recording of a previous EAMS webinar.