Multi-state employers are those who have employees working in two or more states. The size of the company can range from just a few employees to hundreds of employees. If you report electronically or magnetically, you have two choices for reporting:

1. You may choose to report employees in the state they work, following the guidelines for each of those states.
2. You may choose to designate a single state for reporting all the employees in your company.

Note: You may not choose both options.

If you choose to designate a single state, you must notify the Secretary of Health and Human Services of your intentions. You can do this by mailing notification to:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Multi-state Employer Registration
Office of Child Support Enforcement
P.O. Box 509
Randallstown, MD 21133
Fax: (410) 277-9325

You can also register electronically (Link opens in new window) through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web site.

Please include the following:

• Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN)
• Employer's name, address, and telephone number related to the FEIN
• State selected for reporting purposes
• Other states in which your company has employees
• Corporate point of contact

If you will be reporting subsidiaries of your company who operate under different names and FEINs, please include this information as well as the states in which they do business.

You can request a copy of a specially designed form for this purpose through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by calling (410) 277-9470. You may also download the form (.pdf,  3 pp, 153 KB) "Multi-state Employer Notification Form For New Hire Reporting."

Multi-state employers can receive assistance with registration at the federal level from the Multi-state Help Desk by calling (410) 277-9470, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. EST.

Note: Payroll processing companies must report as each customer elects. They cannot choose one option of reporting on behalf of all their customers.

States access the employee information from these companies by using the National Directory of New Hires. The National Directory maintains a list of companies who choose to report to a single state, as well as the state to which they report. This list is made available to states so they will know where employees working in their state are reported.