New Hire Reporting
Federal law requires every employer to report each newly hired employee to a state directory of new hires no later than 20 days after the date of hire. The data flows to the National Directory of New Hires, operated by the Office of Child Support within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is used primarily for child support enforcement.
The 20 days is a federal ceiling, not the operative deadline in every state. Roughly a dozen states require it faster - some in as few as seven days.
What has to be reported?
Five data elements, set by federal law:
| Element | |
|---|---|
| Employee name | |
| Employee address | |
| Employee Social Security number | |
| Date services for remuneration were first performed | Not the offer date, not the start date on paper - the date work actually began |
| Employer name, address and federal employer identification number |
States may require additional fields.
Who counts as a new hire?
Two categories:
- Someone who has not previously been employed by you
- Someone who was previously employed by you but has been separated for at least 60 consecutive days
That second one catches employers out constantly. A rehire after a 60-day gap is a reportable new hire. Seasonal workforces, on-call staff and anyone returning from an extended unpaid absence all need checking against the 60-day rule rather than being waved through as "not new."
How fast, exactly?
Federal maximum: 20 days. Employers reporting magnetically or electronically may instead report by two monthly transmissions, not less than 12 nor more than 16 days apart.
Many states are faster. Verified examples:
| State | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Alabama, Maine | 7 days |
| Georgia, Vermont | 10 days |
| Massachusetts, Rhode Island, West Virginia | 14 days |
| Iowa, Mississippi | 15 days |
| California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Texas | 20 days |
(Verify your states directly. The federal cap is fixed; state deadlines are not, and a multi-state employer building a single process should build to its shortest state, not to 20 days.)
Do independent contractors have to be reported?
Not under federal law - the federal requirement covers employees only. But a number of states have added contractor reporting, with dollar thresholds:
| State | Contractor rule |
|---|---|
| California | Reportable within 20 days of either payments totalling $600 or more or entering a contract for $600 or more, whichever comes first |
| New York | Contracts in excess of $2,500 |
| New Hampshire | Remuneration anticipated to exceed $2,500 |
| Georgia | Not required |
| Massachusetts, Florida, Illinois | Required |
⚠️ One known conflict: federal materials list Texas as requiring contractor reporting, while Texas's own workforce agency frames the requirement around whether the worker completes a Form W-4. If you operate in Texas, confirm this with the state directly rather than relying on either source.
Multistate employers can consolidate
An employer with employees in two or more states that transmits reports magnetically or electronically may designate one state in which it has employees to receive all of its new hire reports, and must notify the Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing of that choice.
Note the precondition. Consolidation is only available to electronic filers. A paper filer must report to each state separately, on each state's deadline.
And a practical consideration: if you consolidate into a state with a 20-day deadline, you're still reporting on that state's timetable - which may be more generous than the seven-day state you actually hired in. Consolidation simplifies the transmission; confirm with the designated state how it handles hires made elsewhere.
What are the penalties?
Federal law caps what a state may charge:
- Up to $25 per failure to report a newly hired employee
- Up to $500 where the failure results from a conspiracy between employer and employee not to report, or to file a false or incomplete report
These are ceilings on state penalties. States set their own amounts at or below them - Texas, for instance, uses exactly $25 and $500.
Small per-instance amounts, but they multiply across a high-volume hiring operation, and the conspiracy provision is a different order of problem.
Where the data goes
Employers report to a State Directory of New Hires. States transmit to the National Directory of New Hires, which holds three data sets: new hire records, quarterly wage records from state and federal agencies, and unemployment insurance claim records.
Primary use is locating non-custodial parents for paternity establishment and child support enforcement. It's also used for authorised eligibility verification, debt collection and de-identified research.
Where teams lose time
The 60-day rehire rule, which requires knowing each returning worker's separation date and doing arithmetic - not a check most onboarding workflows perform.
Different deadlines per state, when most systems have a single new-hire workflow.
"Date services were first performed" is not the same field as start date, offer acceptance date, or the date the record was created. Systems frequently store the wrong one.
Contractor reporting with dollar thresholds requires watching cumulative payments to a contractor and triggering a report when a threshold is crossed - a payables event, not an HR event, and the two systems rarely talk.
Frequently asked questions
How long do we have?
Federal maximum is 20 days from date of hire. Many states are faster - as few as seven.
Is a rehire reportable?
Yes, if the person was separated for at least 60 consecutive days.
Do we report independent contractors?
Not federally. Several states require it, usually above a dollar threshold - $600 in California, $2,500 in New York and New Hampshire.
We hire in twelve states. Can we report to just one?
Yes, if you report electronically. Designate one state where you have employees and notify HHS in writing. Paper filers must report state by state.
What's the penalty?
Up to $25 per unreported employee, or up to $500 where employer and employee conspired not to report or to file falsely.
Which date do we report?
The date the employee first performed services for pay - not the offer date and not necessarily the paperwork start date.
This guide is general information about reporting requirements, not legal advice. Verify current deadlines, thresholds and penalty amounts against the issuing agency before you file.