TABLE OF CONTENTS Appendix K | Previous Federal Law State Legislation State And Territory Names, Abbreviations And FIPS Codes Foreign Country FIPS Codes W-4 Form List Of Acronyms List Of References Organizations Federal Regulations PRWORA Sections 313 And 316 Federal Agency Listing Data Transmission Recommendations L.1 NDNH New Hire (W-4) L.2 NDNH Quarterly Wage (QW) L.3 NDNH Unemployment Insurance (UI)

L. DATA TRANSMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS

The following pages are helpful hints for submitting NDNH data for transmission. The recommendations are grouped according to W-4, QW and UI.

L.1 NDNH New Hire (W-4)

Below are some hints in helping with the transmission of New Hire (W-4) information. For additional information on New Hire Error and Warning Codes please see the NDNH Guide for Data Submission, Part 2.

Transmission File:

• All data must be in EBCDIC format.
• All alphabetic data must be upper case.
• All alphabetic and alphanumeric data must be left justified.
• All numeric data must be right justified and zero filled.
• All dates must by in Y2K format: CCYYMMDD.

Transmission Header Record:

• The Record Identifier, in positions 1-2 must be 'H4'.
• The Transmission File must contain a Header Record.
• The Header Record must be the first record in the transmission file.
• Transmission type, in positions 14-15, must be 'W4'.
• The Version Control Number, in positions 17-18, must be '01'.
• The Batch Number cannot be repeated within the calendar year.
• The Batch Number, in positions 27-32, must be numeric.
• Do not send empty files. If you have no data to transfer to the NDNH, then nothing needs to be submitted.

New Hire (W-4) Data Record:

• Name fields cannot include suffixes such as 'Jr.', 'Sr.' or 'III'.
• All state and territory abbreviations must be valid U.S. Postal Service abbreviations.
• All foreign country codes must be the valid two-letter FIPS Codes.
• SSNs cannot contain blanks, alphabetic characters or all zeros.
• The Employee Name must have at least one character in the First Name and one character in the Last Name.
• The Employee Middle Name must contain a blank or at least one character.
• The Employee Name must be alphabetic, except a hyphen may be used in the Employee Last Name.
• If present, the Employer Name must be at least two characters.
• Each record must contain at least one of the following:
• FEIN
• Employer Address
• Employer Foreign Address
• Employee Address
• Employee Foreign Address
• If present, the Employer Street Address and the Employer City must contain at least two characters.
• If the Employee Street Address, Employer Street Address or Employer Optional Street Address are less than 40 characters per line, do not concatenate to one line.
• If the last four digits of a Zip Code are present, the first five digits are required. The last four digits of the Zip Code may be all numeric or all spaces.
• If the Employer has a local address and a foreign address, the foreign address may be stored in the third line of the Employer Optional Street Address.
• The Record Identifier, located in positions 1-2, must be 'W4'.

Total Record:

• The Record Identifier, in positions 1-2, must be 'T4'.
• The Transmission file must contain a Total Record.
• The Total Record should be the last record in the Transmission file.
• The Data Record Count must be equal to the sum of all the Data Records, the Header Record and the Total Record.
• The Data Record Count must be numeric.
• Transmission error that causes the submission to be rejected:
• No Header Record.
• No Transmitter State Code in the Header Record.
• Invalid Version Control Number.
• Non-numeric Batch Number.
• Duplicate Batch Number.
• Transmission errors that cause part of the submission to be rejected:
• The Header Recorder is not the first record in the submission.
• Transmission errors that do not cause all or part of the submission to be rejected but do cause Warning Codes to be returned:
• Header Record Transmission Type is missing or invalid.
• Header Record Date Stamp is missing or invalid.
• Total Record is missing.
• Total Record Data Record Count is non-numeric.
• Total Record Data Record Count does not equal the count of record submitted.

New Hire Output Returned to the Submitter:

• The number of records received in the transmission, including the Header and Total Records.
• The number of records rejected.
• The number of error records returned.
• The number of records accepted and written to the New Hire File.
• Transmission error codes.
• Each Data Record that has errors with up to five error or warning codes.
• The Error Codes for records rejected are:
• The SSN is non-numeric.
• The SSN is missing or is not greater than zero.
• The Employee Name is missing.
• The SSN and Name do not match.
• The SSN is invalid or out of range
• The Employee Name is missing.
• The Employee Address and Employer Address are missing (and the Employer Address cannot be derived from the FEIN).
• The Warning Codes for records accepted with errors are:
• The Employee First Name is missing.
• The Employee Last Name is missing.
• The Employer Address contains errors.
• The FEIN is missing or is non-numeric or not greater than zero.
• The Employee Address contains errors.
• The Employee Date of Birth is invalid.
• The Employee State of Birth is an invalid format.
• The Employee State of Hire is invalid.
• SSN has been corrected.
• The SSN was incorrect due to being transposed.
• The Employee First Name is missing.
• The Employee Last Name is missing.

Table of Contents

L.2 NDNH Quarterly Wage (QW)

Below are some hints in helping with the transmission of Quarterly Wage information. For additional information on Quarterly Wage Error and Warning Codes please see the NDNH Guide for Data Submission, Part 3.

Transmission File:

• All data must be in EBCDIC format.
• All alphabetic data must be upper case.
• All alphabetic and alphanumeric data must be left justified.
• All numeric data must be right justified and zero filled.
• All dates must by in Y2K format: CCYYMMDD.

Transmission Header Record:

• The Transmission file must contain one, and only one, Header Record *.
• The Record Identifier must be located in positions 1-2 and populated with 'HQ'.
• The Header Record must:
• be the first record in the Transmission file;
• contain a two-digit Transmitter State Code; and
• contain a Date Stamp in Y2K format: CCYYMMDD.
• The Transmission Type in positions 14-15, and must be equal to 'QW'.
• The Version Control Number in positions 17-18, must be equal to '01'.
• The Batch Number in positions 27-32 cannot be repeated within the calendar year.
• The Batch Number must be numeric.

Quarterly Wage Data Record:

• The Record Identifier must be located in Positions 1-2, and contain 'HQ'.
• Name fields cannot include suffixes such as: 'Jr.', 'Sr.' or 'III'.
• All state and territory abbreviations must be valid U.S. Postal Service abbreviations.
• All Foreign Country Codes must be the valid two-letter FIPS Codes.
• SSNs cannot contain blanks, alphabetic characters or all zeros.
• If the First Name does not contain at least 1 character and the Last Name contains at least 3 characters, only a high group check will be performed for the entire transmission.
• The Employee Name must have at least one character in the First Name and one character in the Last Name.
• The Employee Middle Name must contain a blank or at least one character.
• The Employee Name must be alphabetic, except a hyphen may be used in the Employee Last Name.
• The Reporting Period must be equal to one of the following values:
• 1 = January 1st through March 31st
• 2 = April 1st through June 30th
• 3 = July 1st through September 30th
• 4 = October 1st through December 31st
• The Reporting Period format is QCCYY. (Q = quarter)
• The Employee Wage Amount must be a positive number (including zero) and the last two digits must be decimal places. Do not include the decimal point as part of the field.
• If present, the Employer Name must be at least two characters.
• Each record must contain at least one of the following:
• Employer FEIN;
• Employer Address; or
• Employer Foreign Address.
• If present, the Employer Street Address and City must contain at least two characters.
• If the Employer Street Address is less than 40 characters per line, do not concatenate to one line.
• If the last four digits of a Zip Code are present, the first five digits are required. The last four digits of the Zip Code may be all numeric or all spaces.

Total Record:

• The Record Identifier must be located in positions 1-2, and contain 'TQ'.
• The Transmission file must contain one, and only one, Total Record *.
• The Total Record must be the last record in the Transmission file.
• The Data Record Count must be equal to the sum of all the Data Records, the Header Record and the Total Record.
• The Data Record Count must be numeric.

Quarterly Wage Transmission: **

• Transmission errors that cause the submission to be rejected:
• No Header Record.
• No Transmitter State Code in the Header Record.
• Invalid Version Control Number.
• Non-numeric Batch Number.
• Duplicate Batch Number.
• Transmission errors that cause part of the submission to be rejected:
The Header Recorder is not the first record in the submission.
• Transmission errors that do not cause all or part of the submission to be rejected but do cause Warning Codes to be returned:
• Header Record Transmission Type is missing or invalid.
• Header Record Date Stamp is missing or invalid.
• Total Record is missing.
• Total Record Data Record Count is non-numeric.
• Total Record Data Record Count does not equal the count of record submitted.

Quarterly Wage Output Returned to the Submitter:

• Information returned to a submitter after a successful transmission:
• The number of records received in the transmission, up to 15,000 names, including the Header and Data Records.
• The number of records rejected.
• The number of error records returned.
• The number of records accepted and written to the Quarterly Wage file.
• The number of records accepted and written to the Quarterly Wage Non-verifiable file (if the state is a “no-name” state.)
• Transmission error codes.
• Each Data Record that has errors with up to five error or warning codes.
• Errors that cause a record to be rejected are:
• The SSN is missing or is not greater than zero.
• The Employee Name is missing. ***
• The SSN and Name do not match.
• The SSN is invalid or out of range.
• The Employee First Name is missing. ***
• The Employee Last Name is missing. ***
• The SSN is non-numeric.
• The Employee address is missing.
• Errors that do not cause a record to be rejected (but return warning codes) are:
• The Employee Wage Amount is non-numeric.
• The Employer Name is missing.
• The Employer Address contains errors.
• The FEIN is missing or is equal to zero.
• The FEIN is non-numeric.
• The Reporting Period is invalid.
• The SSN was corrected by transposing the First and Last name.
• The wage amount contains all 9s.

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* Multiple Header and Total Records may be included in a file only if multiple batches are being submitted. There must be a corresponding Total Record for each Header Record.

** Refer to Chart 19-1, “QW Error and Warning Codes Table”, for a complete list of Error and Warning Codes.

*** States that have the ability to send employee names that contain at least four characters in the Last Name and at least one character in the First Name will receive these errors.

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Table of Contents

L.3 NDNH Unemployment Insurance (UI)

Below are some hints in helping with the transmission of Unemployment Insurance information. For additional information on Unemployment Insurance Error and Warning Codes please see the NDNH Guide for Data Submission, Part 4.

Transmission File:

• All data must be in EBCDIC format.
• All alphabetic data must be upper case.
• All alphabetic and alphanumeric data must be left justified.
• All numeric data must be right justified and zero filled.
• All dates must by in Y2K format: CCYYMMDD.

Transmission Header Record:

• The Transmission File must contain one, and only * one, Header Record.
• The Record Identifier must be located in Positions 1-2, and contain 'HU'.
• The Header Record must:
• be the first record in the transmission file;
• contain a two digit Transmitter State Code; and
• contain a Date Stamp in Y2K format: CCYYMMDD.
• The Transmission Type, located in positions 14-15, must be equal to 'UI'.
• The Version Control Number, located in positions 17-18, must be equal to '01'.
• The Batch Number, located in positions 27-32, cannot be repeated within the calendar year.
• The Batch Number must be numeric.

Unemployment Insurance Data Record:

• The Record Identifier must be located in Positions 1-2, and contain 'HU'.
• Name fields cannot include suffixes such as 'Jr.', 'Sr.' or 'III'.
• All state and territory abbreviations must be valid U.S. Postal Service abbreviations.
• All Foreign Country Codes must be the valid two-letter FIPS Codes.
• SSNs cannot contain blanks, alphabetic characters or all zeros.
• Claimant Name must have at least one character in the First Name and one character in the Last Name.
• The Claimant Middle Name must contain a blank or at least one character.
• The Claimant Name must be alphabetic, except a hyphen may be used in the Claimant Last Name.
• If the Claimant Street Address is less than 40 characters per line, do not concatenate to one line.
• If Claimant has a foreign address, place the country and foreign zip code in one of the three Claimant Street Address Lines.
• If needed, Claimant Street Address Line 3 should be used for military designations or Canadian Province Codes.
• The Claimant City must be at least two characters.
• If the last four digits of a Zip Code are present, the first five digits are required. The last four digits of the Zip Code may be all numeric or all spaces.
• Benefit Amount must be a positive number or zero. The last two digits are decimal places.
• The Reporting Period must be equal to one of the following values:
• 1 = January 1st through March 31st
• 2 = April 1st through June 30th
• 3 = July 1st through September 30th
• 4 = October 1st through December 31st
• The Reporting Period format is QCCYY. (Q = Quarter, CC = Century, YY=Year)

Total Record:

• The Transmission file must contain one, and only one, Total Record *.
• The Total Record should be the last record in the Transmission File.
• The Data Record Count must be equal to the sum of all the Data Records, the Header Record and the Total Record.
• The Data Record Count must be numeric.

Unemployment Insurance Transmission: **

• Transmission errors that cause the submission to be rejected:
• No Header Record.
• No Transmitter State Code in the Header Record.
• Invalid Version Control Number.
• Non-numeric Batch Number.
• Duplicate Batch Number.
• Transmission errors that cause part of the submission to be rejected:
• The Header Record is not the first record in the submission.
• Transmission errors that do not cause all or part of the submission to be rejected but do cause Warning Codes to be returned:
• Header Record Transmission Type is missing or invalid.
• Header Record Date Stamp is missing or invalid.
• Total Record is missing.
• Total Record Data Record Count is non-numeric.
• Total Record Data Record Count does not equal the count of records submitted.

Unemployment Insurance Output Returned to the Submitter:

• Information returned to a submitter after a successful transmission:
• The number of records received in the transmission, including the Header and Data Records.
• The number of records rejected.
• The number of error records returned.
• The number of records accepted and written to the Unemployment Insurance file.
• Each Data Record that has errors with up to five error or warning codes.
• Errors that cause a record to be rejected are:
• The SSN is non-numeric.
• The SSN is missing or is not greater than zero.
• The Claimant Address is missing.
• The SSN and Name do not match.
• The SSN is invalid or out of range.
• The Claimant First Name is missing.
• The Claimant Last Name is missing.
• Errors that do not cause a record to be rejected (but return warning codes) are:
• The Claimant Address contains errors.
• The Benefit Amount is non-numeric.
• The Reporting Period is invalid.

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* Multiple Header and Total Records may be included in a file only if multiple batches are being submitted. There must be a corresponding Total Record for each Header Record.

** Refer to Chart 27-1, "UI Error and Warning Codes Table", for a complete list of Error and Warning Codes.

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