2023 New York Laws › TAX - Tax › Article 8 - Department of Taxation and Finance; Commissioner of Taxation and Finance › 171-H - State Directory of New Hires.

§  171-h.  State  directory  of  new  hires.  (1)  Establishment.  The
department shall establish an automated directory known  as  the  "State
Directory  of  New  Hires"  which  shall contain information supplied by
employers  in  accordance  with  subdivision  three  of  this   section,
regarding each newly hired or re-hired employee.
(2)   Definitions.  For  the  purposes  of  this  section,  the  terms
"employer," "employee," and "business  day"  shall  have  the  following
meanings:
(a)  "employee"  means  an  individual  who  is an employee within the
meaning of chapter twenty-four of the internal  revenue  code  of  1986,
including an individual under an independent contractor arrangement with
contracts in excess of twenty-five hundred dollars, and does not include
an  employee  of  a  federal  or state agency performing intelligence or
counterintelligence functions if the head of such agency has  determined
that  a  report  made  pursuant  to  this  section  with  respect to the
individual could endanger the safety of the employee  or  compromise  an
ongoing investigation or intelligence mission.
(b)  "employer" means an individual or entity within the meaning given
the term employer in section three thousand four hundred one (d) of  the
internal revenue code of 1986 and includes:
(i) any governmental entity, and
(ii)  any  labor  organization  as  defined  in section two (5) of the
national labor relations act, including any  entity  (also  known  as  a
"hiring  hall") which is used by such labor organization and an employer
to carry out the requirements described in section eight (f)(3)  of  the
national  labor  relations  act  with  respect to any agreement that may
exist between the labor organization and the employer.
(c) "business day" means a day on which state  offices  are  open  for
regular business.
(3) Employer reporting requirements:
(a)  General.  Employers  shall  furnish to the state directory of new
hires a report that contains the  name,  address,  and  social  security
number  of each newly hired or re-hired employee who works in the state,
and the employer's name, address, and identification number as  assigned
pursuant  to  section  six  thousand  one  hundred  nine of the internal
revenue code of 1986. Employers also shall report  if  dependent  health
insurance benefits are available and the date the employee qualifies for
the benefits.
(b)  Format.  Each  report  shall  be  submitted  on a W-4 (employee's
withholding allowance certificate)  form  or,  at  employer  option,  an
equivalent  form  and  transmitted by first class mail, magnetically, or
electronically to the state directory of new hires. In addition, if each
report is submitted on a W-4, an additional form as  prescribed  by  the
department  shall  be  submitted to report if dependent health insurance
benefits are available and the  date  the  employee  qualifies  for  the
benefits. That additional form shall be transmitted by first class mail,
magnetically, or electronically to the state directory of new hires.
(c)  Timing.  Employers  must submit reports to the state directory of
new hires within twenty  calendar  days  of  the  employer's  hiring  or
re-hiring  of  the  employee.  However,  in  the  case  of  an  employer
transmitting reports magnetically  or  electronically,  by  two  monthly
transmissions (if necessary), such reports shall be transmitted not less
than twelve calendar days nor more than sixteen calendar days apart.
(d)  Multistate  employers. An employer that has employees who work in
New York and employees who  work  in  one  or  more  other  states,  and
transmits reports magnetically or electronically, may designate New York
or  one  of the other states in which such employer has employees as the
state to which the employer  will  transmit  the  report  to  the  state

directory  of  new  hires.  Any employer which transmits reports by this
method must notify the secretary of the federal department of health and
human services in writing as to which state such employer designates for
the purpose of sending reports.
(e)   Federal   government   employers.  Any  department,  agency,  or
instrumentality of  the  federal  government  shall  transmit  new  hire
reports  as  required by section four hundred fifty-three A (b)(1)(C) of
the social security act.
(4) The department shall:
(a) notify all employers of the requirements for reporting information
to the state directory of new hires as provided in subdivision three  of
this section;
(b)  enter  information  into  the  database  maintained  by the state
directory of new hires within five business  days  of  receipt  from  an
employer pursuant to subdivision three of this section;
(c)  make automated comparisons of social security numbers between the
state directory of new hires and the state case registry  maintained  by
the  office of temporary and disability assistance for administration of
the child support enforcement program  and,  where  there  is  a  match,
provide the office of temporary and disability assistance with the name,
address,  and  social security number of the employee to whom the social
security number is assigned, and the name and address  of  the  employer
and  the  employer's  identifying  number assigned to the employer under
section six thousand nine of the internal revenue code of  1986,  within
one  business  day  after  the  date the information is entered into the
state directory of new hires;
(d) transmit new hire information to the  national  directory  of  new
hires  maintained by the federal department of health and human services
within three business days after the date  the  information  is  entered
into the state directory of new hires;
(e)  conduct  matches  with  the  office  of  temporary and disability
assistance, the department of health, and the  department  of  labor  to
verify individuals' eligibility for the various programs specified under
section one thousand one hundred thirty-seven (b) of the social security
act  and  for  other public assistance programs authorized by state law,
and  for  the  purposes  of  administering  state  employment   security
programs,  and  with  the workers' compensation board for the purpose of
administering workers' compensation programs;
(f) on or before October first, nineteen hundred  ninety-seven,  enter
into  written  agreements  with  the  commissioners  of  the  office  of
temporary and disability assistance, health, and labor on behalf of  the
office  of  temporary  and  disability assistance and the departments of
health and labor respectively and the chair of the workers' compensation
board on behalf of such board, which shall:
(i) provide for  the  disclosure  of  information  obtained  from  the
reports  required  to  be  submitted  pursuant  to  this section to such
departments and board for the purposes set forth in this section;
(ii) specify the frequency with which  the  department  shall  furnish
information  obtained from such reports to such office, departments, and
board, which shall be  within  one  business  day  after  the  date  the
information is entered into the state directory of new hires;
(iii)  set  forth the procedure for reimbursement of the department by
such office, departments, and board  subject  to  the  approval  of  the
director  of  the  budget  for  the additional costs of carrying out the
provisions of this section;
(iv) include such other matters as the parties to such agreement shall
deem necessary to carry out the provisions of this section; and
(g) furnish to the national directory of new  hires,  on  a  quarterly
basis,   extracts  of  the  reports  required  under  paragraph  six  of
subsection (a) of section three hundred  three  of  the  federal  social
security  act  to be made to the secretary of labor concerning wages and
unemployment  compensation  paid  to  individuals, by such dates, and in
such manner as the secretary of health and human services shall  specify
by regulations. The state department of labor shall, consistent with the
authority  contained in paragraph e of subdivision three of section five
hundred thirty-seven of the labor law, disclose to the  state  directory
of new hires, such wage and unemployment compensation information as may
be necessary to allow such state directory to comply with the provisions
of this paragraph.