When hiring employees, businesses must comply with numerous filing, reporting and insurance requirements. In addition to federal requirements, New York requires businesses to report various types of information about their employees. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has prepared a comprehensive guide to hiring employees in New York, which can be found here. A bullet point list of the main items to be concerned with is also set out below.
Federal Forms
Before hiring any employees, a business owner must:
- Obtain a federal Employer Identification Number with the IRS by: (1) sending a completed form SS 4 to the IRS; or (2) completing an online application.
- Require each new employee to complete and return an IRS Form W-4 to designate the appropriate amount of federal tax withholding.
- Retain each W-4 for at least four years.
- Comply with the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 and have each new employee complete Section 1 of an employment eligibility verification form, known as Form I-9 by the first day of starting work and review associated original documentation. Employers must strictly comply with I-9 requirements or risk penalties.
New York Form and Obligations
In New York, for each new employee, employers must:
- complete and send to the NYS Department of Labor a NYS registration Form 100 or register online;
- report certain identifying information about employees to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance within 20 calendar days from the hiring date, similar to the information contained in an IRS Form W-4; and
- comply with wage and hour law wage notice requirements, which can be found here.
Employment-related Insurance Requirements
In New York, employers must maintain:
- Workers’ compensation insurance.
- Unemployment insurance.
- Disability insurance.
Workplace postings
Employers must notify employees of their rights under many federal, state and local employment statutes. You can learn which state posters you need here which federal posters you need here.
This blog post is not intended to consist of legal advice and you should always consult with a lawyer before acting on anything you find on the Internet. If you have questions or comments about this post, about the topic, or if you need legal assistance, you should feel free to give us a call or send us an email.
