Increasing Employer New Hire Reporting

Child-support service agencies collect financial support from noncustodial parents, but are often stymied when it appears that parents have no employment, and thus no income. Although every employer is federally mandated to report new hires to the US Department of Labor, employers often fail to do so. The aim of this trial is to increase new-hire reporting by providing notice to employers of their obligation to complete federally mandated reporting requirements. A total of 1,000 employers that failed to report new hires in the previous year were randomly assigned to receive compliance directions in one of five notification conditions (email, letter, postcard, telephone, control) to determine if notification method is associated with new hire reporting compliance.