at-9716.htm

ACTION TRANSMITTAL

OCSE-AT-97-16
October 7, 1997

TO: STATE AGENCIES ADMINISTERING CHILD SUPPORT ENFORCEMENT PLANS APPROVED UNDER TITLE IV-D OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT AND OTHER INTERESTED INDIVIDUALS

SUBJECT: Revisions to OCSE-AT-97-15, Answers to questions regarding new hire reporting requirements for multistate employers under Section 453A of the Social Security Act.

BACKGROUND: Since the issuance of OCSE-AT-97-15, we have received notification from additional States of their ability to accept new hire reports from multistate employers. This AT includes that additional information, as well as clarifying the elements which should be included in the reports.

CONTENT: This instruction clarifies some of the requirements for multistate employers and includes the multistate employer form as an attachment.

SUPERSEDED MATERIAL: OCSE-AT-97-15.

INQUIRIES TO: Office of Child Support Enforcement, Department of Health and Human Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20447, Attention: Director, Policy and Planning Division

_____________________________
David Gray Ross /s/
Deputy Director
Office of Child Support Enforcement

Question 1: What are the criteria for a multistate employer to choose one State for reporting new hires?

Answer: Section 453A (b) (1) (B) of the Social Security Act allows an employer that has employees in two or more States and that transmits reports magnetically or electronically to comply with the new hire reporting requirements by designating one State in which the employer has employees and transmitting all new hire reports to such State. However, an employer must designate a State that is prepared to accept multistate reports. Attached is a list of those States that have informed OCSE that they will receive new hire reports from multistate employers beginning October 1, 1997. The multistate employer must also notify the Secretary of Health and Human Services of their selected State. This can be accomplished by mailing notification to :

Department of Health and Human Services
Multistate Employer Registration
Office of Child Support Enforcement
Box 509
Randallstown, MD 21133

The notification should include the employer's name, address, Federal Employer Identification Number, and phone number, as well as the states in which the employer does business and a corporate point of contact.

If your company will be reporting new hires on behalf of your subsidiaries who operate under different names and FEINs, please also list the names, FEINs and States where they have employees working.

OCSE has received approval from the Office of Management and Budget, under the Paperwork Reduction Act, to publish and distribute an optional form which may be used by multistate employers to make their reports to the Secretary. The form is attached. Also, the form can be downloaded from OCSE's website at: /programs/cse/.

Question 2: May a multistate employer who meets the statutory criteria and chooses to exercise the one-State reporting option designate a State that has until October 1, 1998 to meet the requirements of PRWORA?

Answer: If an employer wishes to designate a State that has until October 1, 1998, to comply with the new PRWORA requirements in 167453A, but that State will not be ready to accept multistate reports until that time, the employer must either continue to report to several states, or designate another single State that is prepared to accept the multistate reports. The employer can change the designation later to the desired State, once the State is prepared to accept multistate reports.

Section 453A(a)(1)(A) provides that "Except as provided in subparagraph (B), not later than October 1, 1997, each State shall establish an automated directory (to be known as the 'State Directory of New Hires') which shall contain information supplied in accordance with subsection (b) by employers on each newly hired employee." The exception referred to in subparagraph (B) specifies that "A State which has a new hire reporting law in existence on the date of the enactment of this section may continue to operate under State law, but the State must meet the requirements of subsection (g)(2) not later than October 1, 1997, and the requirements of this section not later than October 1, 1998." In turn, 167453A(g)(2) requires that "Within three business days after the date information is entered into the State Directory of New Hires, the State Directory of New Hires shall furnish the information to the National directory of New Hires." The October 1, 1998, extension is designed to allow States which already had new hire reporting laws in effect prior to the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 additional time to conform to the requirements of 167453A. Thus, the effective date of October 1, 1998 relates to a State's compliance with the requirements of the new legislation rather than a multistate employer's compliance with the new hire reporting requirement.

Question 3: If a multistate employer with employees in State A and State B designates State B as the State to which the employer will begin transmitting new hire reports by the effective date of October 1, 1997, may State A still require the employer to report newly hired employees to State A's Directory of New Hires until October 1, 1998?

Answer: No. However, a multistate employer with employees in State A is bound by the new hire reporting requirements of State A and must report newly hired employees to the Directory of New Hires of State A unless and until the multistate employer notifies the Secretary in writing of a designation and begins to transmit its new hire reports magnetically or electronically to the designated State.

Question 4: If an employer chooses to transmit reports magnetically or electronically, what are the time frames within which the employer must transmit the reports to the State Directory of New Hires?

Answer: Section 453A(b)(2) provides that each State may determine the time frame for new hire reporting, within the parameters laid out by the statute. Employers who submit their reports magnetically or electronically, including multistate employers, must submit via two monthly transmissions made not less than twelve nor more than sixteen days apart For example, if an employer submits twice monthly, a new hire report must be submitted as soon as possible after the date of hire, but no later than the next semimonthly period.

States Accepting Multistate Employers as of October 1, 1997

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Mexico

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Oregon

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

MULTISTATE EMPLOYER NOTIFICATION FORM
FOR NEW HIRE REPORTING
(OPTIONAL FORM)

Note: To access the Wordperfect files, you need to use your browser's download procedures. For example, in netscape click on the right mouse button for the reference and choose "save link as."

Federal law requires employers to furnish to the State Directory of New Hires of the State in which a newly hired employee works, a report that contains the name, address, and social security number of the employee, and the name, address and Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) of the employer (42 USC 653A(b)(1)(A)).

If you are an employer who has employees in two or more States AND you will transmit the required reports magnetically or electronically, Federal law allows you to comply with the new hire reporting requirement by exercising one of the following options (42 USC 653A(b)(1)(B)):

Option #1: Furnish the new hire report to the State Directory of New Hires of the State in which your newly hired employee works; or

Option #2: Designate one State in which any of your employees works and transmit ALL new hire reports to the State Directory of New Hires of that State.

If you select Option #2, you must notify the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in writing of your choice to report to only one State and identify the chosen State (42 USC 653A(b)(1)(B)). The purpose of this optional form is to provide a convenient means for such notification. Multistate employers may also notify the Secretary by letter, fax machine, or Internet. (see the last page for further instructions).

1. Federal Employer
Identification Number(FEIN): _______________________
2. Date ___/___/___

3. (FEIN)Employer Name: ______________________________________________________

4. (FEIN)Employer Address: ______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

City: _____________________ State:_____ Zip: __________

5. (FEIN)Phone Number: ( )________________________

6. SUBSIDIARY INFORMATION:

FEIN: _______________

Name: _____________________________

State/ZIP _______________

---

FEIN: _______________

Name: _____________________________

State/Zip:_____________

7. Please enter the two-character abbreviation for the State, U.S. territory, or U.S. possession to which you will be submitting W-4 New Hire Data. The State that you designate must be a State in which you have one or more employees. (See State List below). ___ ___

7a. Effective Date: __/__/__

Please CIRCLE the two-character abbreviation for any other States, U.S. territories, or U.S. possessions that corresponds to your employees' principal place of employment. Do not include the entry in Item 7 above.

AK=Alaska GA=Georgia MA=Massachusetts ND=N.Dakota PA=Pennsylvania VT=Vermont AL=Alabama GU=Guam MD=Maryland NE=Nebraska PR=Puerto Rico WA=Washington AR=Arkansas HI=Hawaii ME=Maine NH=New Hamp. RI=Rhode Island WI=Wisconsin AZ=Arizona IA=Iowa MI=Michigan NJ=New Jersey SC=S. Carolina WV=W.Virginia CA=California ID= Idaho MN=Minnesota NM=New Mexico SD=S. Dakota WY=Wyoming CO=Colorado IL=Illinois MO=Missouri NV=Nevada TN=Tennessee CT=Connecticut IN=Indiana MP=Marianas NY=New York TX=Texas DC=Dist. of Col. KS=Kansas MS=Mississippi OH=Ohio UT=Utah DE=Delaware KY=Kentucky MT=Montana OK=Oklahoma VA=Virginia FL=Florida LA=Louisiana NC=N. Carolina OR=Oregon VI=Virgin Islands

9. Contact Name: ____________________________________

Title: ___________________________________

Phone: ___________________________________________

Email: ______________________________________________

Fax: __________________________________________________

Signature of Person Completing this form:_______________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT OF 1995

Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3 minutes per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and reviewing the collection of information.

An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.

NOTE: COMPLETE THIS FORM ONLY IF YOUR COMPANY HAS EMPLOYEES IN MORE THAN ONE STATE AND YOU CHOOSE TO REPORT ELECTRONICALLY OR MAGNETICALLY TO ONLY ONE STATE.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING THIS FORM:

Item 1. Enter your company's Federal Employer Identification Number. This is the number used by the IRS to identify your company.
Item 2. Enter today's date in MM/DD/YYYY format, e.g., 09/23/1997.
Item 3. PRINT your company's name. This is the name associated with the FEIN in Item 1.
Item 4. PRINT your company's address, including city, State, and zip code. This is the address associated with the FEIN in Item 1. If your company's FEIN address is a foreign address, PRINT the two- character Country Code, the Country Name, and the Country Zip Code.
Item 5. Enter your company's phone number, including area code. This is the phone number associated with the FEIN in item 1.
Item 6. Enter the FEIN the name, state, and zip code of any subsidiaries, divisions, autonomous operating units, etc. of your company that have their own FEIN and for whom you will be reporting New Hire W-4 information. If there are more than two entries, please list the others on a separate piece of paper.
Item 7. PRINT the two-character abbreviation for the State, U.S. territory, or U.S. possession to which your company has chosen to report New Hire W-4 information. . Note: The State that you designate must be a State in which you have one or more employees. Refer to the State listing shown on the form.
Item 7a. Enter the effective date (MM/DD/YYYY) on which your company will begin sending New HireW-4 information to the entry shown in Item 7.
Item 8. If your company has employees in States, U.S. territories, or U.S. possessions other than the entry shown in Item 7, CIRCLE the applicable two-character State abbreviations shown in the State list.
Item 9. PRINT your name, title, work phone number (if different from the Company phone number entered in Item 5), work Email address, and work fax address. BE SURE TO SIGN THE FORM. The information in this Item is used to acknowledge receipt of your notification and to contact you if any clarification is needed.

Send the completed form to:

Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement
Multistate Employer Notification
P.O. Box 509
Randallstown, MD 21133

Fax the completed form to:

Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Child Support Enforcement
Multistate Employer Notification
1-410-277-9325

If you need assistance in completing this form, call 1-410-277-9470 (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EST); for general information, call 1-202-401-9267.