Overview
Reporting new hires and re-hires saves you money by reducing fraudulent claims for public assistance, worker’s compensation, and unemployment benefits, and by allowing early detection of overpayments which results in substantial savings to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund.
When employers provide information about new hires and rehires to the Office of the Attorney General, as required by law, it is entered into a statewide registry and then transmitted to the National Directory of New Hires. TWC uses the database to compare with lists of people applying for unemployment benefits or with outstanding overpayments. If an unemployment benefits claimant’s name appears on both lists, we address eligibility. If the person is either working while claiming unemployment benefits or in default of amounts owed, we take action to stop benefits and recover any overpayments.
Employer Responsibility
Federal and state law requires employers to provide information about all new or rehired workers to the Employer New Hire Reporting Operations Center in the Texas Office of the Attorney General.
New hire reporting is mandated by federal law under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, and requires employers to report new hires and rehires no later than 20 calendar days after the hire date. If you report electronically, you must report 12 to 16 days apart, which is about twice a month.
You must report all newly hired or rehired employees who live or work in any state. A good rule of thumb is that if the employee is required to fill out a W-4 form, you must report hiring that employee.
Texas Administrative Code provides a penalty of $25 for each occurrence in which an employer fails to report hiring an employee, or a penalty of $500 for conspiring with an employee to fail to file a report or submit a false or incomplete report.
New hire reporting with the Office of the Attorney General is separate from quarterly wage reporting to TWC.
How to Report
The Child Support Division of the Office of the Attorney General is the designated agency for new hire reporting in Texas. Reporting options include submission of new hire information online, through file uploads, or by mail, fax or phone.
For details about new hire reporting requirements, methods and resources, visit the Texas Attorney General’s website on New Hire reporting.
Benefits of Reporting
Every time you provide information to the State of Texas New Hire Program about your newly hired or rehired workers, you help state agencies detect and prevent fraud and recover overpayments.
The new hire data provided by employers is included in the statewide database where it is compared with lists of people applying for unemployment benefits or with outstanding overpayments. TWC determines eligibility and takes action to stop benefits and/or recover overpayments. Accurate and timely reporting of new hires also enables the Office of the Attorney General to locate noncustodial parents sooner and increases child support collections for families.
When reported consistently, new hire reporting helps:
- Prevent fraudulent public assistance, worker’s compensation, and unemployment benefit payments.
- Prevent overpayments or allow early detection of overpayments, resulting in substantial savings to the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund (UITF).
- Return overpayments recovered by TWC to the UITF, which results in lower unemployment taxes.
- Reduce the number of verification of employment requests employers receive from the Office of the Attorney General.
