New hire reporting requirements

All employers must report to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance certain identifying information about each newly hired or rehired employee working in New York State.

A newly hired or rehired employee means an employee previously not employed by the employer, or previously employed by the employer but separated from such prior employment for 60 or more consecutive days.

An employer for new hire purposes is defined the same as for federal income tax withholding purposes [IRC § 3401(d)]. This includes employers of domestic help, labor organizations (including hiring halls), and governmental entities (except for federal agencies, which report directly to the National Directory of New Hires).

Employers have 20 calendar days after the hiring date to report newly hired or rehired employees who will be employed in New York State. If an employer reports electronically, the employer must report using two monthly submissions (if needed) not less than 12 nor more than 16 calendar days apart.

Note: If you have a newly hired non-U.S. resident visa employee, you have 20 calendar days to report the new hire starting from the date the employee receives an SSN from the SSA. A non-U.S. resident employee should file for an SSN at the start of employment. You should exercise due diligence to have the employee provide the SSN when it is received. You cannot submit a report without an employee’s SSN, or an ITIN or a Permanent Resident Card (green card) number in place of the SSN.

The hiring date is the first day compensated services are performed by an employee. This would be the first day any services are performed for which the employee will be paid wages, commissions, tips, or other compensation. For services based solely on commissions, this is the first day an employee working for commissions is eligible to earn commissions.

The following information must be provided for each employee:

employee name (first, middle initial, last)

employee address (street, city, state, and ZIP code)

employee SSN

employee hire date

employer name

employer address (street, city, state, and ZIP code)

EIN (assigned by the IRS)

if dependent health insurance benefits are available to the employee and if so, the date the employee qualifies for the benefits

Note: A new hire may not be included on a report without an SSN.

For frequently asked questions on new hire reporting, visit our website at www.tax.ny.gov (search: new hire ).