Ohio New Hire Reporting Form (JFS 07048): Filing and Penalties

Ohio employers file the Ohio New Hire Reporting Form, JFS 07048, with the Ohio New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of hiring any new employee or qualifying independent contractor.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3121 – Section 3121.893 Methods for Making New Hire Report The form is two short sections — employer information and worker information — and you can submit it online at oh-newhire.com, by mail, or by fax.

When You Have to File a Report

Every Ohio employer, whether a private business, government agency, or nonprofit, must file for each person who starts working for pay.2Ohio.gov. New Hire Reporting That includes W-2 employees and most independent contractors.

An employee under the statute is anyone providing services for compensation reported as wages.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3121.89 – Employee and Employer Defined

A contractor is an individual, sole shareholder of a corporation, or sole member of an LLC paid as non-wage income. Three groups are excluded from contractor reporting: professionally licensed individuals providing services under that license, anyone expected to earn less than $2,500 per year from the arrangement, and intelligence or counterintelligence personnel.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3121.89 – Employee and Employer Defined If a contractor is above the $2,500 threshold, report them using the same form with the contractor box checked.

You also have to report rehires. Anyone who previously worked for you but has been separated for at least 60 consecutive days counts as a new hire when they return. The clock runs from the last date they actually performed services or received pay.2Ohio.gov. New Hire Reporting

Filling Out the Employer Section

Download a blank JFS 07048 from the Ohio New Hire Reporting Center at oh-newhire.com, or complete it directly through the site’s portal.4Ohio New Hire Reporting. Ohio New Hire Reporting Form JFS 07048

Begin with your Federal Employer Identification Number. The form asks for the FEIN under which this worker’s quarterly wages will be reported, so if your company uses multiple FEINs across divisions, pick the one that matches this worker’s payroll.4Ohio New Hire Reporting. Ohio New Hire Reporting Form JFS 07048

Next comes employer name, address, city, state, and zip. Watch the address field. It is not necessarily your main office. The form wants the address where income withholding orders should be sent, which for many companies is the payroll department or a corporate office that handles garnishments, not the location where the employee shows up to work. Phone, fax, and email are optional, but filling them in gives the reporting center a way to reach you about errors.

Filling Out the Worker Section

For the worker, you need:

The date of hire is the first day the person performs services for pay. Not the offer date. Not the orientation date.

For a contractor, check the “Is this a Contractor?” box and complete two additional fields: the date payments will begin, and the expected length of service in months. If the contractor operates through a business entity, you can enter their FEIN instead of their SSN using the checkbox on the form.

If you are filing on paper, write clearly. Transposed digits in an SSN or FEIN are the most common reason filings bounce back, and the reporting center cannot verify anything with you unless you filled in the optional contact fields. Keep a copy.

How to Submit the Form

You have three submission routes, and the 20-day clock starts on the hire date, or on the date you engage a contractor or they resume providing services.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 3121.893 – Methods for Making New Hire Report

Employers who report electronically have an alternative deadline under federal law: instead of filing each report within 20 days, you can send two monthly batch transmissions spaced 12 to 16 days apart.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 653a – State Directory of New Hires The Ohio statute also permits magnetic media and other methods the Department of Job and Family Services authorizes, so check oh-newhire.com for current batch-upload specifications.

You will not get a confirmation for a successful filing. If something is wrong, the reporting center will reach out using the contact information you provided.

Multistate Employers

If your company has workers in two or more states, you can consolidate all new hire reports into a single state rather than file separately in each. Register as a multistate employer with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the OCSE Child Support Portal at ocsp.acf.hhs.gov, or email the completed registration form to msedb@acf.hhs.gov.7Administration for Children & Families. Multistate Employer Registration Form for New Hire Reporting

Two conditions apply: you must have at least one employee working in the state you designate as your reporting state, and you must transmit your reports electronically. Paper filers do not qualify.

Penalties for Missing a Report

An employer that fails to file faces a $25 civil penalty per missed report. If the failure results from the employer and employee working together to avoid reporting or to submit false information, the penalty rises to $500 per report.8Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Administrative Code Rule 5101:12-10-90.1 – Employer Responsibilities The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services enforces the penalty.

Twenty-five dollars a report sounds small, but it compounds fast with turnover: fifty missed reports in a quarter is $1,250. Missing reports can also slow your response when a child support withholding order arrives, because the state will not have the employment record it needs to route the order to you correctly.