Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

The following is not meant to be legal advice.

This year, Washington enacted a law that requires all employers that are subject to the state’s unemployment insurance to provide personal information regarding corporate officers and other persons who control the payment of unemployment tax contributions.

The purpose of the law was to make sure that corporate officers and employees with significant ownership not be eligible to receive unemployment benefits. The registration requirement is also to assist Washington in imposing liability when a business dissolves.  Upon dissolution of businesses, corporate officers and employees with significant ownership who control the payment of unemployment tax contributions can be held personally liable if they intentionally evade unemployment benefit obligations.

Some employers who do not read up on the law for every state that they do business in, only learned of this requirement when they received notice from Washington’s Employment Security Department directing them to file a Corporate Officer Report.  The report was due by September 30, 2007.   Some employers were confused by the instructions because they periodically receive in the mail service solicitations such as those from vendors in California requesting similar information.

All corporations, non-profits, that are subject to the Washington unemployment insurance are required to file a Corporate Officer Report.