New Hire Directory

How to Report New Hires

Reporting new hires electronically benefits employers in a number of ways:

• Saves on paper, processing time and postage;
• Reduces the likelihood of errors;
• Helps to avoid rejected records because of unreadable or missing information;
• Qualifies Multi-state employers for "Multi-state" New Hire Reporting; and
• Allows employers with many work sites to centralize their new hire reporting.

Note: Please make sure submitted reports are complete and easily legible.

The commonly used forms for reporting new hire information are below. The New Hire Reporting form (K-CNS 436) is fillable and can be submitted via mail or fax to (888) 219-7798.

• New Hire Reporting Form
• IRS W-4 Form

There are two ways employers can report electronically:

Option 1: Data Entry Method

1. Login to the KansasEmployer.gov site.
2. Choose the Select button that corresponds to the "Enter new hire information" option.
3. Enter the hiring company’s FEIN and Kansas Serial Number.
4. If you are a Liable Employer, select "Continue" from the Liable Employer Verification page.
5. If you are a Non-liable Employer you can use the Switch to Non-Liable Verification link at this point. You would need your FEIN and zip code.
6. Enter the new hire information.
7. Select "Update."
8. A confirmation message "Employee record inserted successfully" will appear briefly at the top of the page.
9. If the hiring company has additional new hire data to enter, they can do so immediately (step 6 above) as the user will remain on the data entry page after submitting the data in step 7.

Option 2: Upload Method

1. Login to the KansasEmployer.gov site.
2. Choose the Select button that corresponds to the "Upload new hire information file" option.
3. Here, you will have the option to upload a text file, Excel spreadsheet (XLS, XLSX, or XLSB), or a Comma-Seperated Value file (CSV). To download our template for new hire spreadsheets, click on one of the applicable versions available below.
4. Select Browse to locate your file.
5. Choose Open on the pop-up screen once you have found and selected the data file.
6. Select Upload. (This process copies the data file to our server but it does not actually process the data in it.)
7. Select Add New Hires to process the uploaded new hire data.
8. A “Submission Complete” message will display indicating the number of records in the new hire data file which were successfully processed.
9. If the hiring company has additional new hire data upload files to process, they can select the Back to Upload Page option which will return them to step 3 above.

• Microsoft Excel 2007 Spreadsheet
• Microsoft Excel Older Versions Spreadsheet

Payroll companies also may provide employers with automatic electronic new hire reporting as an extra service. If you have questions regarding this service, please contact your payroll service company directly.

Our goal is to make reporting your new hires as easy as possible. If you have any questions about electronic reporting or require technical assistance, please contact us at the New Hire Directory Office.

File Layout Guidelines for Upload Method

Pursuant to Federal guidelines for providing information for the Kansas New Hires Directory, please supply the information shown in the following tables.

Note the following guidelines that apply to all data elements and record formats:

• All alphanumeric data are to be in upper case.
• All alphanumeric data are to be left justified.
• All numeric data are to be right justified and zero filled.
• All dates are to be in the Year 2000-compliant format MMDDYYYY.
• Name and city data are to be stripped of special characters except for the hyphen.
• State and territory abbreviations in addresses should be the US Postal Service abbreviations.
• Name fields should not include suffixes such as "Jr.", "Sr." and "III".
• The employer address will be where child support orders should be sent.
• Include a carriage return in position 828.
• File name will be the first eight digits of the FEIN of the first record.
• File extension will be DAT.

How to Report New Hires

75-5742

State directory of new hires; collection, deletion, confidentiality and transmission of information.

1. The department of labor is hereby designated as the agency to collect the new hires information required by the personal responsibility and work opportunity act of 1996. The secretary of labor shall contract with the secretary for children and families to provide the information needed to be in compliance with the personal responsibility and work opportunity act of 1996.
2. The state directory of new hires shall receive, retain and, to the extent permitted by federal law, make information reported to the directory available pursuant to subsection (c).
3. Except as otherwise permitted by federal law, any agency receiving information from the state directory of new hires shall handle the information as confidential information for use in administering the programs for which it was received. The state directory of new hires shall make information available:
   • Upon implementation of the national directory of new hires, to the national directory;
   • And to the secretary for children and families for use in administering an eligibility verification system and, not later than May 1, 1998, the title IV-D program.
4. Any employer who reports electronically or magnetically and is required to report newly hired employees to more than one state may elect to transmit all such reports to one state by complying with the requirements of title IV-D.
5. Beginning July 1, 1999, the secretary of labor shall annually delete information about individuals contained in the new hires directory if the information is at least two years old. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as requiring the secretary of labor to delete information needed to administer the employment security or workers compensation programs.

75-5743

Same; duty to submit information.

1. All employers and labor organizations doing business in this state shall submit information concerning each new employee to the secretary of labor within 20 business days of the hiring, rehiring or return to work of the newly hired employee or within 20 business days from the date the newly hired employee first receives wages or other compensation from the employer. The information shall include the newly hired employee’s name, address, social security number and the date services for remuneration were first performed by the newly hired employee and the employer’s name, address, federal tax identification number and any other information as may be required by section 453A of the social security act, 42 U.S.C. § 653a.
2. For purposes of this section, the term “newly hired employee” means an employee who has not previously been employed by the employer, or was previously employed by the employer, but has been separated from such prior employment for at least 60 consecutive days.
3. The Kansas department for children and families shall have access to such information to match the employee’s social security number with title IV-D cases.

New Hires Outreach Program

We need your help to communicate with employers who may be unaware of the benefits and requirements of New Hire Reporting. Do you:

• Belong to an Association or other Organizational Group with other employers?
• Network with other employers in similar industries?
• Provide professional advice to employers? (Accountants, Consultants, etc.)

If you answered yes, then we need your help! We would like to provide you with some tools such as flyers, forms, or public speakers to help spread the message about New Hire Reporting. To order any of the those tools, let us know how you can help, or to find out more, please contact (785) 368-6285 or DCF.CSSEmployers@ks.gov.

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA)

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA) is a federal law considered to be a major welfare reform. It was signed into law on Aug. 22, 1996, by President Clinton. The law contains strong work requirements, a performance bonus to reward states for moving welfare recipients into jobs, state maintenance of effort requirements, comprehensive child support enforcement and supports for families moving from welfare to work – including increased funding for childcare and guaranteed medical coverage.

Among its provisions, PRWORA required each state to operate a child support enforcement program meeting federal requirements. Provisions include:

National new hire reporting system:
The law established a Federal Case Registry and National Directory of New Hires to track delinquent parents across state lines. It also required that employers report all new hires to state agencies for transmittal of new hire information to the National Directory of New Hires. The law also expanded and streamlined procedures for direct withholding of child support from wages.

Computerized state-wide collections:
The law required states to establish central registries of child support orders and centralized collection and disbursement units. It also required expedited state procedures for child support enforcement.

Streamlined paternity establishment:
The law streamlined the legal process for paternity establishment, making it easier and faster to establish paternity.

Uniform interstate child support laws:
The law provided for uniform rules, procedures and forms for interstate cases.