The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), requires employers to report newly-hired employees to a state agency. New Hire Reporting is a process by which the employer reports all new hires within a short time of hiring. Employers report key information to the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission (OESC) (Link opens in new window) who then reports the information to Child Support Services (CSS).

After OCSS receives the information from OESC, the information is matched against child support records. The information may aid in locating parents, establishing paternity and establishing or enforcing an order for child support. The information is then sent to the National Directory of New Hires so other states may use this information to locate noncustodial parents in other states.

The OESC uses the data to prevent or detect unemployment insurance benefit overpayments and fraud. The data may also be compared to active worker's compensation records. OKDHS compares this information to open cases to prevent or detect erroneous public assistance payments.

Thirty percent of child support cases involve noncustodial parents who do not live in the same state as their children. A national database allows other states to track these parents across state lines. Once OCSS receives information from other states concerning noncustodial parents, OCSS  will then establish paternity and child support orders or enforce existing ones.

The OESC and OCSS work closely with employers to offer several reporting methods to make the process as easy and efficient as possible. Employers that are already reporting have stated that they have seen little or no cost to their businesses. In fact, many have said that the on-line reporting option makes the process much easier.

The most direct benefit to employers is the reduction in unemployment insurance benefit claims and workers' compensation claims due to erroneous information or through fraud. The OESC can then stop payments or recover erroneous payments in a more timely manner. This should in turn lower unemployment and workers' compensation insurance rates for businesses.

Federal legislation defines an employer as any entity that meets employer status under Section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Service Code of 1986 as required for federal income tax purposes. This includes all government entities and labor organizations. At a minimum, any employer who is required to provide a W-2 to an employee is considered an employer for the purposes of New Hire Reporting.

This is the date on which an employee begins work for pay for an employer.

Only if you are in an employer/employee relationship.  If the work is being done on a contract basis, then you do not need to report contractors and subcontractors. The contractor is required to report his/her employees. Again, if you are required to give the employee a W-2, then you need to report the employee as a new hire. Note: Employers are required to honor income withholding orders for contractors.

If the employee is working for you (you are required to give the employee a W-2) then you need to report the information to the OESC. If you are only a referral agency to employers, then the employer is required to report the new hire information.

If the employee is working for the organization, then the organization must report the employee as a new hire. Again like temporary agencies, if you are just a referral service then the actual employer must report the employee.

All new hires must be reported within 20 days of their hiring date. If you are reporting electronically, you must report twice a month.

Federal and State law requires these items:

Employee name, address and social security number
Employee occupation and salary
Employee date of birth
Employee date of hire (first day of service)
Employee recall or rehire date
Employee state of hire
Employer name, address and Federal ID Number
Employer's Oklahoma Employer Account Number
Dependent health insurance availability

Employers are still required to report the employee as long as an employer/employee relationship occurred and wages were earned. This is because the information may provide a key to locating a noncustodial parent. In these cases, when asked if the employee is still working for you, answer "No."

If the employee has not left the payroll, you do not need to report the employee again. If you are required to fill out a new W-4 for the employee, then the employee needs to be reported using the same form as new employees. If this is the case, then simply check "recalled" on the form to show that the employee has been recalled to work by your company. The OESC uses this information to calculate return-to-work credits for eligible companies. If you have any doubts about whether to report the rehired employee, we encourage you to send a new report.

You should have your personnel staff or payroll company fill out and submit the form. If a payroll company is submitting the form, the employer's name must appear on the form, as well as the address for income assignments. Do not have the employee fill out the form.

This is an important issue under Oklahoma law, which requires that information be safe-guarded. Only those agencies authorized by law may have access to the information. All information sent to the National Directory of New Hires is required to be transmitted through secure and dedicated lines. Federal law requires that the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Link opens in new window) put safeguards in place for this program.

While most of the information is provided in quarterly wage reporting it can take six months for that information to become available for use by the OCSS. Noncustodial parents trying to avoid their financial duty to provide for their children may change jobs often. This makes it difficult to track and catch up to these uncooperative parents.

When New Hire Reporting is done correctly, the information is available within 20 days of the employee being hired. This increases the likelihood of finding noncustodial parents, and mandatory income assignments can be issued much more quickly. Mandatory income assignments are the most effective means available of collecting child support.

In addition, some information, such as the availability of dependent health care insurance is not available on the quarterly wage reporting, thus slowing down the process even more.

You can report in one of three ways:

Online reporting -  This is the preferred method. You may enter as many or as few reports at a time as you would like.

Electronic reporting - If your personnel records and/or payroll records are already computerized, you may submit the data on 3.5-inch diskette or magnetic tape. Diskettes and magnetic tapes can be downloaded directly into the online reporting system or may be mailed to the address below.  

Paper reporting - A paper reporting form may be obtained by contacting the Oklahoma Employer Assistance Team. The form may be mailed or faxed to:

Oklahoma New Hire Reporting Center
P.O. Box 52003
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73152-2003
Toll free fax:  1-800-317-3786
Oklahoma City fax: (405) 557-5350

You can report in one of two ways:

1. Report each new hire to the state in which that employee is working. You will need to follow each state's reporting guidelines or 
2. You can declare a single state for the purposes of reporting new hires. To do this you must  report either electronically or magnetically. If you choose this option, you will need to notify the Secretary of Health and Human Services of your intention to file in a single state. You must specify to which state you will be reporting.  Send notification to:
   
   Department of Health and Human Services
   Multi-state Employer Registration
   Office of Child Support Enforcement
   P.O. Box 509
   Randallstown, MD  21133
   (410) 277-9470

At a minimum, you must include the employer's name and address. A specially designed form is available for this information. You may also request a form by calling (410) 277-9470. When you report electronically or magnetically, only include information that is required by the state to which you are reporting. You must report twice a month using this method.

The National Directory of New Hires maintains a list of multi-state employers using the single-state reporting option. The reporting locations for these single-state employers is made available to all states so they can be aware of where their new hires are being reported.