Criminal history inquiries — ban-the-box (public employers only)
New Hampshire's ban-the-box law prohibits public employers from including questions about an applicant's criminal history—arrests, charges, convictions, or juvenile adjudications—on employment applications. Exceptions apply for law enforcement positions, positions requiring fidelity bonds where a conviction would disqualify the applicant, positions with automatic disqualification under federal or state law, and positions where the employer is contractually prohibited from hiring individuals with criminal records. Public employers may inquire about criminal history during an employment interview. The law took effect January 1, 2021. Private employers in New Hampshire face no state ban-the-box restrictions, though federal contractors must comply with the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act.
Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 275-H:2
New hire reporting — timing, covered workers, and independent contractor threshold
New Hampshire requires all employers to report newly hired and rehired employees to New Hampshire Employment Security (NHES) within 20 days of the "first day of hire," defined as the first day the worker performs services for wages, other compensation, or becomes under contract. The reporting obligation arises under RSA 282-A:117-a and applies to every employing unit as defined in RSA 282-A:7 — at minimum, any entity required to issue a W-2 or 1099 form to an individual must meet the new hire reporting requirement.
Covered workers
The law requires reporting of:
- All newly hired employees — workers hired for the first time by the employer.
- Rehired employees — workers who return to employment after a separation of at least 60 consecutive calendar days.
- Independent contractors meeting the $2,500 threshold — sole proprietors (individuals operating a business as a sole proprietorship) when the employer expects to pay, or in fact does pay, $2,500 or more for services under one or more contracts in a single calendar year. The threshold applies to the labor or services portion of the contract; if a contract separates labor from materials and the labor portion exceeds $2,500, reporting is required. If the payment is not anticipated to exceed $2,500 but does in fact exceed that amount during the calendar year, a report is required within 20 days of the triggering event.
Required information
Employers must submit the employee's full name, address, and Social Security number, along with the employer's name, address, and federal Employer Identification Number (EIN). Reports may be filed online through the NHES portal (employers must have an active state account number), by mail or fax using a copy of the employee's W-4 form or an NHES-approved equivalent, or via magnetic media (CD) for multistate employers making two monthly transmissions.
Multistate employer option
Multistate employers (those with employees in two or more states) may report all new hires to a single state if they transmit reports electronically or by magnetic media. New Hampshire permits an exception allowing multistate employers to file on paper if reporting 15 or fewer individuals in the reporting period. Employers choosing to consolidate reporting in one state must notify the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Penalties
Employers face civil penalties of up to $25 for each unreported new hire. If an employer conspires with an employee to avoid reporting, the penalty rises to $500 per unreported hire. The law also authorizes criminal penalties for noncompliance.
Purpose
The new hire reporting program was enacted under federal welfare reform legislation (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996) to assist state and federal agencies in locating parents who owe child support. NHES matches reported information against state and national child-support databases and shares the data with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, which forwards it to the National Directory of New Hires in Washington, D.C.
Source: N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 282-A:117-a Source: NHES "New Hire" Reporting Brochure (NHES 0082) Source: NHES Reporting Independent Contractors Under the "New Hire" Program (NHES 0083)