Background and Purpose

Effective October 1, 1997 the nation's employers have been required to report essential employment information for every new hired employee to a State New Hire Directory.  Federal legislation in the form of "The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996" (PRWORA) requires States to operate a system for employers to report new hire information to the Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE).  The New Hire data, together with Quarterly Wage and Unemployment Claims data enable OCSE to maximize enforcement of child support orders through the Parent Locator Service.

The Utah New Hire Registry was developed when Utah's legislature enacted a law during the 1997 general session known as the Centralized New Hire Registry Act ( Chapter 7 Section 35A-7-101).  Utah's legislation is similar to the Federal legislation, adopting the same minimum reporting requirements and providing remedies for failure to report properly.

State Child Support Enforcement agencies use the New Hire data to match against their child support records to assist in locating parents, establishing support orders or enforcing existing orders.  New Hire reports are also transmitted to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) which allows OCSE to assist States in locating parents on a national level.

State Unemployment Insurance, Workers Compensation, and Public Assistance programs may use New Hire information to detect and prevent the payment and receipt of erroneous or unlawful benefits and assistance.  The New Hire reporting initiative has resulted in significant increases in child support collections, reductions in welfare payments, and millions of dollars saved in Medicaid, Food Stamps, Unemployment Insurance benefits, and Workers Compensation claims.