New Hire Reporting

A federal law called The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 directed all states to implement regulations requiring employers to report new hires to a state directory within 20 days of starting the job. The purpose of the new hire reporting requirement is to reduce any delay in establishing immediately wage withholding for parents who are delinquent in their child support payments.

Though many states publish their own new hire reporting forms, the employee's IRS W-4 form is an acceptable method of reporting new hires to state directories. Lately, electronic reporting is being done as well using the Internet.