While you may have found a great employee, your job is not done until you've satisfied the New York state new hire reporting requirements. New York state-based employers, as well as multistate employers designating New York as their "reporting state," are required to promptly provide this information.

If you plan on hiring new employees or have bought a New York-based business with existing employees, it is required that each business have a federal employer identification number. This is obtained from the Internal Revenue Service. You must then register each new employee with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance within 20 days from the employee's hiring date — that is, the first date a new employee provides services for compensation. The hiring date for commission-based employees is the date from which such employees are eligible to earn commissions. Should a non-U.S. resident visa employee come on board, the reporting requirement is 20 calendar days from when the employee received a Social Security number.

Going forward, you likely will need to withhold New York state income tax from employees' pay while regularly submitting withholding tax returns. (Depending on location, you may need to withhold New York City or Yonkers taxes.) The withheld tax is used to meet employee income tax obligations. You probably will also need to carry workers' compensation and state disability insurance (SDI) for employees. If you must pay unemployment insurance contributions, it is required that you file a quarterly wage report with the state. In the case of a job loss, this information is used by the Labor Department to determine worker benefits.

New hire reporting pertains to a wide variety of employees, including domestic workers and those who work for labor organizations and governmental entities. Also note that there are specific rules about reporting employees who are temporary or hired from a placement agency, as well as for teachers and professional athletes. Federal agencies are exempt as they directly report to the National Directory of New Hires. A newly hired or rehired employee is considered to be an individual who has not previously been employed by the employer, or has been "separated" — that is, not working for the employer — for 60 or more consecutive days, such as a returning seasonal worker.

Employers who transfer employees working in other states to New York, however, are not considered to be "newly hired" or "rehired" by the employer, but are instead are classified as transferred from another state. Similar treatment is provided to employees who are part of a takeover, merger and/or consolidation.

This is just an introduction — there may be other applicable rules. Employers who fail to comply with these requirements will be fined for each unreported employee or each false or incomplete report. If you're a ConnectPay client and unclear on your responsibilities, be sure to reach out to your Connected Rep for more details! 

Copyright 2021