New Jersey Clarifies New Hire Reporting Obligations

New Jersey employers traditionally must provide certain information about new hires (name, address, date of birth, and social security number) and the company (name, address, and federal tax ID) to the State Department of Human Services. On October 16, 2013, Governor Chris Christie signed a bill (A4188) into law clarifying that in addition to reporting employees hired or re-hired by an employer, employers also must report “any other employee hired by the employer to work in the State who was not previously employed by the employer; or was previously employed by the employer but has been separated from the prior employment for at least 60 consecutive days.” The new law also requires—rather than permits—the State to share the reported information with the State’s unemployment and workers’ compensation agencies, and with any other federal or state agency deemed appropriate by the commissioner. This amendment intends to facilitate efforts to prevent improper collection of unemployment benefits.