dcl9746.htm

National Directory of New Hires

August 18, 1997 DC-97-46

Dear Colleague,

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 requires all Federal agencies begin transmitting New Hire information to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH) on October 1, 1997. Agencies subject to the Privacy Act must publish a Notice of Routine Use (NRU) in the Federal Register by August 29, announcing that the system of records which contains personnel and payroll data will now be used to supply the NDNH with New Hire and Quarterly Wage data. The NRU should also note that the purposes for which employee data are released to OCSE have been expanded. We have enclosed a sample NRU which you may wish to use as a basis for crafting your agency’s NRU.

There is a required 30-day public comment period for the NRU after it is published in the Federal Register. Before an agency can send data to the NDNH, a final Notice must be published following this comment period. In order to begin sending data to the NDNH by the legislatively mandated October 1, 1997 deadline, all agencies who are required to publish an NRU must do so by August 29, 1997 to allow for this 30-day comment period.

Not all agencies are required to publish an NRU; Federal entities or instrumentalities not subject to the Privacy Act are not required to publish a Notice. Please consult with your agency’s general counsel to determine whether or not you are subject to this requirement.

The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) is providing technical assistance to all Federal agencies in meeting the NDNH requirements. Also enclosed are two brochures containing New Hire reporting information and a list of steps that you, or your payroll service, should follow in submitting New Hire information. Please note that if your agency has a payroll service (for example, USDA’s National Finance Center), you should contact that payroll service and ensure that they intend to process and transmit your New Hire data for you. Although you may not be required to transmit the data yourself, it is still your responsibility to contact your payroll office to make sure that they will be transmitting the data for you. Your payroll office should also have received a packet of information from us containing detailed information, including the record layout specifications.

If you would like to receive an electronic copy of the attached sample NRU, or if you have any questions about the NDNH requirements, please call Kusum Agarwal of Ellsworth Associates at (703) 821-3090 x 243 or e-mail her at KAgarwal@eainet.com. You can also contact Steve Goldman at (703) 821-3090 x 275 orSGoldman@eainet.com.

We look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

David Gray Ross

Deputy Director

Office of Child Support Enforcement

Enclosures: Sample Notice of Routine Use

New Hire Brochures

Steps for Federal Agencies to Submit New Hire Data