If you haven’t read the critical information provided below or taken action on the Agency Preparation Actions Items, please do so as soon as possible. Thank you!
Message originally sent 5/14/26 at 6:06 pm
WPEA General Government (WPEA-GG) Collective Bargaining Agreement - During the 2025-27 successor bargaining, the parties did not reach a tentative agreement. Accordingly, bargaining continued and a tentative agreement was ultimately reached in August 2025. The legislature funded the agreement during the 2026 legislative session.
The tentative agreement provides that any employee being paid on a WPEA-GG salary schedule during fiscal year 2026 (7/1/25 through 6/30/26) will receive retroactive compensation for all time spent on the WPEA-GG salary schedule retroactively effective 7/1/25.
OFM has launched the planning phase for implementing the WPEA-GG agreement. Because this type of implementation has never been done before, it presents significant complexity and requires careful, methodical coordination.
Do not assume your agency is not impacted because you don’t have WPEA-GG represented employees. If you have staff that transferred from another agency where they were in a WPEA-GG represented position – they may see a pay impact.
Retroactive HRMS adjustments apply to WPEA General Government employees only.
House and Senate are not impacted
Higher Education does not use HRMS and has different implementation requirements
Below is a complete package outlining agency and OFM action items. Action items include:
Agency preparation action items
OFM implementation items
Agency post-implementation action items
Agency preparation items should begin as soon as possible. The remaining agency action items will not begin until agencies are notified OFM has completed our updates. We anticipate completing our updates by 7/13/26; however, we will send a communication to confirm agencies can move forward with the post-implementation action items.
If you have not already done so, please designate at least one Human Resources representative and one Payroll representative as your Agency WPEA HR & Payroll Points of Contact (POC) for WPEA retro activities. Submit POC information here by 5/22/26.
AGENCY PREPARATION ACTION ITEMS
Communication between HR and Payroll will be critical. Consider forming an internal team to coordinate efforts. Agencies should begin addressing these items as soon as possible. As your agency evaluates the impact, be sure to share information with your accounting team so they are aware of the upcoming retroactive changes and expected timing, allowing them to prepare accordingly.
What: Register for one or all WPEA Implementation workshops.
How: Visit the WPEA Implementation Workshops section below for full registration details.
What: Identify impacted employees and positions
How: All general government agencies should review the WPEA Employee & Movement Data spreadsheet for data as of 4/15/26. If an employee was represented by WPEA – GG at any point during fiscal year 2026 (7/1/25 through 6/30/26) they are considered an impacted employee. For agencies with WPEA-GG represented positions, run one of several position reports to identify impacted positions. You can also identify WPEA-GG employees and positions by these Personnel Subarea codes 00PA, 00PB, 00PJ, 00PR, 00PT, 00PU, 00Q2, 00Q4, 00Q5, 00QA, 00QE, 00QH, 00QK, 00QM, 00QO, 00QQ, and 00QZ and WPEA Pay Scale Type 02.
What: Review the list of classification plan changes that occurred 7/1/25 to determine appropriate job class allocations for revised or abolished job classifications.
What: Review WPEA salary schedules on the Salary Schedules webpage to determine salary placement, as applicable.
How: For any positions identified above, also identify any impacted employees and begin making salary determination decisions. Use the WPEA salary schedules to help determine salary placement. Be sure to review the attached resources (also on the HR Professional Portal) for class plan changes, salary setting examples, etc. Some positions may require allocation determinations based on the class plan changes. Document any required changes and enter or validate them during the Agency Post-Implementation Activities.
What: Review the Implementation Pay Scenarios FAQ to familiarize yourself with solutions for different scenarios. We have also linked additional Q&A used for 7/1/25 implementation for additional guidance.
How: Access the document within the HR Professional Portal each time you have questions about scenarios. OFM will continue to update the FAQs as different scenarios come to light. Continue checking this resource. If you have scenarios that aren’t on this document, send your questions to StateHR@ofm.wa.gov.
What: Ensure correct personnel subarea and pay scale type selections for all employees throughout fiscal year 26 (7/1/25 through 6/30/26). Corrections must be made no later than 7/7/26 by 8 pm.
How: Run employee and position reports to validate data. Make any necessary corrections to position Acct. Assignment Features (1008), employee Organizational Assignment (0001), or employee Basic Pay (0008) infotype records. OFM will begin identifying impacted employees and making retroactive entries on 7/8/26 so all corrections need to be made before that work begins.
What: Communicate with losing or gaining agencies for impacted employees who were active with other agencies. This may require coordination among multiple agencies.
How: Identify employees on the spreadsheet who were active with another agency between 7/1/25 and 6/30/26. For impacted employees who changed agencies, both agencies HR and payroll offices should coordinate to develop a plan for updating and validating employee data. If the employee was represented by WPEA-GG at the losing agency, that agency may not have full access to update the employee’s records and will require assistance from the gaining agency. Additionally, the gaining agency may not have the necessary security authorization to make changes for the period during which the employee was assigned to the losing agency. In this scenario, the losing agency should document the necessary changes needed and then during post-implementation activities, utilize Winshuttle to make the necessary updates to the employee’s record. Depending on the changes needed at the losing agency, the gaining agency may have subsequent updates to make with their appointment with that employee, so the losing agency should be prepared to share information about the retroactive changes so the gaining agency can also document any necessary changes on their end.
What: Identify direct job-to-person relationships that were active at any point during fiscal year 2026 (7/1/25 through 6/30/26) and prepare to manually update records for those employees.
How: Run the Display Personnel Planning Database report and use the statewide variant SWV_JOB_A017 – SWV Job to Person to identify direct job to person relationships. OFM cannot update Basic Pay (0008) records for these employees. Determine what updates will need to be made, document these items and key entries during the Agency Post-Implementation Activities.
What: Hold appointment change and salary change entries effective on or after 7/1/26 for impacted employees until confirmation that OFM Implementation Items are completed.
How: See Agency Post-Implementation Action Items for when to enter these changes in HRMS.
What: Confirm mailing address and payment information for separated employees.
How: Identify and contact impacted employees who are currently separated to ensure up to date payment information and mailing address. If necessary, make updates. Use the WPEA Employee & Movement Data spreadsheet or run the Actions Report to identify separated employees. Save the list of your separated employees for Agency Post-Implementation activities.
What: Identify employees on WPEA salary schedules whose records are directly valued. If they should have been indirectly valued instead, correct the Basic Pay record. If they were directly valued for a reason, determine if any retroactive pay entries are needed.
How: OFM will update the WPEA salary schedules which will update employee Basic Pay (0008) records for indirectly valued employees. Use the Employee Basic Pay IT 8 History Report to identify and audit directly valued employees. If an employee was erroneously directly valued, then correct those records no later than 8 pm on 7/7/26. If any employee was directly valued for a specific reason (such as salary set above the salary range maximum), then determine if the employee is eligible for the 7/1/25 3% general wage increase (GWI) and if any other retroactive pay changes will be needed. OFM will not apply the 7/1/25 3% GWI to any WPEA-GG employees who are directly valued. Document any required changes and enter or validate them during the Agency Post-Implementation activities.
What: Review impacted employees who have one or more basic pay records since 7/1/25 and prepare to manually update records for those employees. These employees may have had subsequent appointments that should be reviewed for correct salary placement (including non-WPEA appointments).
How: OFM will update employee Basic Pay (0008) records with a 7/1/25 effective date for WPEA-GG employees. If an employee has any Basic Pay records with an effective date after 7/1/25, then agencies will need to review the employee’s records and determine the appropriate salary placement and next increase date, if needed, for each record. This includes any Basic Pay records within WPEA-GG as well as those who have moved to a non-WPEA-GG position in the same or different agency. Document any required changes and process them during the Agency Post-Implementation Activities.
What: Identify any new assignment pay, premium pay, or absence types, and prepare to make those entries.
How: Review the list of wage types and absence types from 6/16/25 HRMS Wage Types Communication as well as the 2025-27 Proposed Class Comp Changes document on the HR Professional Portal for a list of job classes with special pay, premium pay, or other incentive pay changes. Identify employees who are eligible for any of these new types of pay, new rates of pay, or new absence types. Document any impacted employees along with applicable wage types and absence codes to prepare for retroactive entry during the Agency Post-Implementation Activities.
What: Identify employees with active Washington State Child Support orders. WPEA Impacted employees with retroactive payments may need to be reported to Division of Child Support (DCS) if the employee has child support in arrears.
How: Run the Payroll Posting report using the personnel numbers of impacted employees using the Wage Type selection for Wage Type 3020 and execute the report. After executing the report, select Change Layout, select the Filter tab, highlight Vendor Number, and select the Add Filter Criterion button to move Vendor Number to the Filter Criteria section. Once the Vendor Number is in the Filter Criteria section, click directly on the Vendor Number title to highlight it. Click the Define Values button. In the Vendor Number box, enter SWV000714401 and click the Enter button. Click the Enter button again to view the report results. Once you identify employees with active child support orders, complete an audit of each employee’s order to determine if the employee is in arrears. Eliminate employees who are not in arrears from this list. Document any remaining employees for final determination and reporting during the Agency Post-Implementation Activities.
What: Run position and employee reports prior to 7/8/26, before the retroactive entries in HRMS will begin. Export and save these reports for use in your validation of data.
How: When retroactive entries are made in HRMS, they override the current data, and the original entries are no longer available in most reports. There are a couple of reports you can use to view what changed, Logged Changes in Infotype Data (S_AHR_61016380) and Display Working Time (CATS_DA). However, it will likely be easier to have the data you need compiled in a couple of spreadsheets that you can reference to view the original entries. Save this data for use in your validation during Agency Post-Implementation Activities.
Resources: Various position and employee reports.
What: Identify impacted employees who work outside of Washington, and review state specific employment and tax laws for any special considerations.
How: Identify your out of state employees and navigate state-specific labor laws, potential tax nexus issues, varied state minimum wages, local pay frequency laws, tax withholding, and/or penalties for failing to include retro pay in regular-rate-of-pay calculations for overtime.
What: Identify where your agency may have 30 or more of the same data updates to process. Consider using Winshuttle to reduce your workload which allows OFM to upload data from Excel to HRMS through a pre-built Excel file. You can also begin compiling the data you’ll need to populate Winshuttle spreadsheets.
How: Familiarize yourself with available Winshuttle options. For the WPEA implementation, a new Basic Pay Update - Pay Scale with Start and End Dates Update script has been added, but other scripts may also be helpful depending on the type of updates needed. Once scripts have been identified, begin populating them with the position or employee information required.
If you have questions about any of the preparation items, please send questions to StateHR@ofm.wa.gov.
OFM IMPLEMENTATION ITEMS
The following items will be completed by OFM. We will begin these items on 7/8/26 and anticipate completing them by 7/13/26. We will communicate to agencies once these items have been completed and agencies may move forward with Post-Implementation Action Items.
Load 2025 WPEA Salary Schedules
Load 7/1/25 WPEA salary schedules into HRMS.
Update Positions in WPEA Job Classes
Identify all positions within WPEA Personnel Subareas and move any “shadow class” positions back into existing HRMS job classes.
Update position planned compensation records to align with the revised job class ranges and amounts effective 7/1/25. This will include positions moving out of the “shadow classes”, as well as positions assigned job classes with targeted increases due to base range and/or starting wage changes.
Abolish all WPEA shadow job classes, on a future date to be determined, after confirming agencies have completed position allocations and no positions or employees remain assigned to the abolished job classes.
Identify Impacted Employees and Lift Retro Wall
Identify employees who held WPEA positions between 7/1/25 through 6/30/26.
Lift retro wall for impacted employees to allow retroactively to 7/1/25.
Update Organization Assignment Records
Identify employees whose positions were moved out of “shadow classes” and back into existing HRMS job classes.
Exclude employees who had an active job-to-person relationship during this same period.
Update Organizational Assignment records for employees whose job classes are moving from shadow classes back to existing job classes.
Update Basic Pay Records - Starting Wage
Identify employees whose positions planned compensation records were updated due to starting wage changes.
Exclude employees who had an active job-to-person relationship during fiscal year 26.
Create or update 7/1/25 basic pay records.
Update ranges and steps (salary-to-salary).
Run the PID and Longevity Projection History Report to add Next Increase Dates for employees who are not at L/M on 7/1/25.
Exclude Next Increase Dates for employees who are at Steps L or M on 7/1/25.
Update Basic Pay Records - Base Range
Identify employees whose positions planned compensation records were updated due to targeted base range increases
Exclude employees who had active job-to-person relationship during fiscal year 26.
Create or update a 7/1/25 basic pay record.
Update range (step-for-step).
Run the PID and Longevity Projection History Report to add Next Increase Dates.
Update Basic Pay Records for Remaining Impacted Employees
Create or update a 7/1/25 basic pay record using the exact range and step to trigger retroactive processing.
Important exceptions:
OFM will not update basic pay records for employees in positions that must be allocated by the agency due to position abolishment or other class plan maintenance.
OFM will not update basic pay records that are not WPEA, based on the Pay Scale Type.
For employees with more than one basic pay record or were hired after 7/1/25, OFM will not update any Basic Pay records with an effective date after 7/1/25.
OFM will not update Organizational Assignment or Basic Pay records for employees who had an active job-to-person relationship during fiscal year 26.
AGENCY POST-IMPLEMENTATION ACTION ITEMS
The following items must be completed by agencies after the OFM implementation items are finalized and confirmation of completion has been communicated.
What: Validate and finalize your Winshuttle spreadsheets. Winshuttle can be used by agencies to assist processing for the following reasons:
For items identified with 30 or more of the same data updates to process.
For identified employees who were active with another agency between 7/1/25 and 6/30/26 and the gaining agency is unable to assist in updating employee data.
How: If necessary, review the Winshuttle process and Information to ensure you follow the required process. Information is found within each spreadsheet on a second tab located at the bottom of the spreadsheet. Finalized Winshuttle scripts must be submitted to HeretoHelp@ofm.wa.gov no later than 7/20/26 at 5 pm for OFM to process within the current pay period. If you are a losing agency uploading data for impacted employees, ensure that you’ve coordinated with the gaining agency so they can expect the requested updates.
What: Determine appropriate Next Increase dates for employees who were at Steps L or M on 7/1/25.
How: Run the PID and Longevity Projection History Report for employees that were at steps L and M on 7/1/25. Use this data to identify or research each employee’s appropriate Next Increase date considering the time the employee was in Steps L or M. Use the Basic Pay – Add Next Increase Date procedure to update the employee’s record if appropriate.
What: Update employees on WPEA salary schedules whose records are directly valued and require retroactive pay updates. Employees who were directly valued may require retroactive pay entries.
How: Use the list of directly valued employees identified to determine if the employee is eligible for the 7/1/25 3% GWI or if any other retroactive pay changes are necessary. Enter or validate directly valued employee Basic Pay records in accordance with your determination.
What: Complete updates for employees with direct job-to-person relationships.
How: Using the list of employees with active job-to-person relationships saved during the Agency Preparation Items list, move forward with updates as necessary.
OFM excluded updates to Basic Pay (0008) records for these employees, so determine and execute updates accordingly.
What: Retroactively update employees identified who are to receive assignment pay, premium pay, or absence types in accordance with the 6/16/25 HRMS Wage Types communication and Proposed Class Comp Changes document on the HR Professional Portal.
How: Use the list compiled where employees were identified who are eligible for any of these new types of pay, new rates of pay, or new absence types. If you have an employee who requires assignment pay, premium pay, or absence types, enter it retroactively.
What: Retroactively update classification changes that occurred 7/1/25 in accordance with the appropriate job class allocations for revised or abolished job classifications.
How: Use the list compiled of positions identified with assigned job classes that were abolished or revised and require updates. Enter or validate these changes as identified. For reference, you may access the HR Professional Portal and review the 2025-27 Proposed Class Comp Changes document for supporting.
For job classes that are abolished or had class plan maintenance changes, update impacted positions based on your allocation decisions.
For job classes that received a base range increase and/or starting wage increase, validate impacted position changes.
What: For any positions identified requiring allocation decisions, update impacted employees with the appropriate appointment change action and salary determination decision.
How: Use the list compiled of employees identified with reallocated positions and require updates. Enter these changes as identified. Refer to the WPEA salary schedules to help verify salary placement. Be sure to review resources (also on the HR Professional Portal) for class plan changes, salary setting examples, etc.
What: Retroactively update impacted employees who have a basic pay record with an effective date after 7/1/25.
How: Using the list of employees saved during the Agency Preparation Items list with Basic Pay records effective after 7/1/25. Enter these changes as identified. Refer to the resources on the HR Professional Portal or applicable WAC or CBA for information on salary determination.
What: Review the list of employees with active Child Support orders who are in arrears saved during the Agency Preparation Items list and identify the retroactive payment.
How: On or after Payroll Day 1, use the Wage Type Reporter with the following data:
Personnel Number(s)
Current Period
Wage Type: /552
Object Selection: Personnel Number (plus all defaulted selections)
ALV Grid Control
Export this list to utilize as a tool to assist in determining the amount the employee is receiving due to the WPEA implementation.
Work with DCS to determine appropriate action if necessary.
Send an email to HeretoHelp@ofm.wa.gov if your agency needs to pause the retroactive WPEA implementation payment while you work with DCS to report funds/collect funds. OFM will work with each scenario to ensure the desired outcome is reached in accordance with agency/DCS decision.
What: Complete a full validation of all position and employee changes made.
How: After retroactive entries are complete, run new position and employee reports to validate everything has been updated appropriately. Use the position and employee files you saved, prior to retroactive entries beginning, along with your lists of identified changes. Run pay sims to ensure retroactivity is processing as expected. Coordinate between losing and gaining agencies that updates were entered correctly and pay is correct.
What: Create an Employee Cost Distribution record for employees who are or were separated and receiving retroactive pay.
How: Using the list of employees saved during the Agency Preparation Items list who are separated, create an Employee Cost Distribution record. For employees who are still withdrawn, the Employee Cost Distribution record must be dated the first day of the full separation pay period through the last day of the current period. For employees who have been rehired, the Employee Cost Distribution record must be dated the first day of the full separation pay period through the last day of the period before the rehire. If the employee was rehired at another agency, agencies should coordinate.
What: Actively identify and correct payroll errors as soon as they are reported.
How: Visit the HRMS Support Hub – Payroll Cutoff Errors page on the following days/times to review for errors:
7/17/26 at 7 am (Payroll Day 1 to review Payroll Day 0 errors)
7/20/26 at 7 am (Payroll Day 2 to review Payroll Day 1 errors)
7/21/26 at 7 am (Payroll Day 3 to review Payroll Day 2 errors)
7/21/26 at 12:30 pm (Payroll Day 3 to review Day 3 noon errors)
7/21/26 at 4 pm (Payroll Day 3 to review Day 3 pm errors)
Review Correction Guidance for specific error types if you are uncertain of the cause or solution. If the Correction Guidance does not provide a solution, immediately send an email to HeretoHelp@ofm.wa.gov for resolution assistance.
OFM will host one-hour workshops for agency HR and Payroll representatives to ask OFM SMEs questions, explore scenarios and receive clarifications on how to accurately implement the retroactive pay actions for WPEA employees. These workshops are recommended for agencies with WPEA-GG employees and agencies who have hired one or more employees who were WPEA-GG during the fiscal year. These sessions will be recorded.
Once you receive the confirmation e-mail you will need to download the invite to post to your calendar.
To allow OFM SMEs to be prepared for the workshops with timely answers, please submit any WPEA implementation questions to StateHR@ofm.wa.gov in advance. We ask that you do not hold your questions for the workshops as we would like to be prepared to cover as many of the questions as possible.
Additional information:
OFM will send an updated communication once we have completed the OFM Implementation Items to allow agency processors to begin the Post Implementation Agency Actions. OFM will provide a spreadsheet of what was processed and any exceptions.
This communication was sent to the OFM GovDelivery HRMS Communications topic
