The questions on this page relate to all state employees. If your questions are specific to the ESS Leave Tool, you may wish to visit the ESS Leave FAQ.
Q-1 What is Employee Self Service?
Employee Self Service (ESS) is a feature of the state's personnel and payroll application, the Human Resource Management System (HRMS). ESS gives you secure, password-protected access to:
- View, print, or save an e-copy of your current earnings statement and those for the previous 12 months.
- View and update your permanent and mailing addresses
- View and update your emergency contact information
- View and update your email address
Q-2 Can I access ESS from any computer?
You can go directly to the portal from any supported internet browser by entering this web address: https://wahrms.wa.gov. Depending on your operating system, the supported browsers are: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or 8 and Mozilla Firefox 3.5. Other browsers may work, but they are not supported.
Q-3 What if I don’t have access to a computer or the Internet?
It will be up to agencies to build a plan to transition to a more paperless environment. Like they do today, agencies will work with their employees who do not have electronic access to ensure they have access to critical information. For example, most agencies provide alternate paper processes for employees to update their address and emergency contact information.
Q-4 When I update my addresses in ESS, what will this affect?
You can update both your permanent residence and mailing addresses. This information automatically will be updated in the Health Care Authority (HCA) and Department of Retirement System (DRS) records.
It is important to use your home address as your permanent address as the insurance system determines employee eligibility for certain health care benefits based on the permanent address and the county field. This address is used for any HCA mailings and is also the address sent to the various health and insurance plan vendors.
DRS uses the mailing address if there is one, otherwise the permanent address is used.
If your mailing address is the same as your permanent address, then you don’t need to fill out a mailing address.
Q-5 How soon are address changes effective?
Address changes made by the 15th of the month will be reflected on your earnings statement for the 25th. Address changes made by the end of the month will be reflected on your earnings statement for the 10th.
For all other purposes, address changes are effective the next calendar day.
Q-6 Will earnings statements from previous pay periods be available through ESS?
Yes. You can view, print, or save an e-copy of any of your earnings statements for the most recent pay day, and for the 12 months previous to it.