(1) As used in this
section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) Employee means a natural person who is employed by an employer in
this state for compensation, which employer is required to report the compensation
to the federal internal revenue service. Employee does not include:
(I) An employee hired to perform intelligence or counterintelligence
functions for an agency of the United States government, as those terms are
defined in the federal Intelligence Organization Act of 1992, 50 U.S.C. sec. 401a,
when the head of the agency has determined that reporting the employee could
endanger the safety of the employee or compromise an ongoing investigation or
intelligence mission; or
(II) An independent contractor.
(b) Employer means a person or entity doing business in the state that
engages an employee for compensation and for whom the employer is required to
report the compensation to the federal internal revenue service. Employer also
includes any governmental entity and any labor organization.
(c) Labor organization means any organization that exists for the purpose,
in whole or in part, of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning
grievances, terms, or conditions of employment or of providing other mutual aid or
protection in connection with employment.
(d) Newly hired employee means an employee who:
(I) Has not previously been employed by the employer; or
(II) Was previously employed by the employer but has been separated from
his or her prior employment for at least sixty consecutive days.
(e) Service provider means:
(I) An individual, sole shareholder of a corporation, sole member of a limited
liability company, or sole proprietor;
(II) An individual who is not an employee of a service recipient; or
(III) An independent contractor who:
(A) Contracts or provides services for compensation to a service recipient
doing business in Colorado in an amount equal to or greater than the amount set
forth in 26 U.S.C. sec. 6041 in the calendar year; or
(B) Is a transportation network company driver who uses a personal vehicle
to deliver food, goods, or other services to a person in Colorado through the
transportation network company's digital network.
(f) Service recipient means:
(I) A person doing business in Colorado who enters into a contract for
services with a service provider or receives services from a service provider; or
(II) A person doing business in Colorado as a company that maintains a
digital network to facilitate service transportation network company drivers,
including, but not limited to, drivers delivering food, goods, or services to a person
seeking such services.
(2) The state department, or its agent, shall establish and maintain a state
directory of new hires on and after October 1, 1997, for the purpose of locating
newly hired employees for the purposes of establishing, enforcing, or modifying
child support obligations and for other purposes specified in paragraph (b) of
subsection (8) of this section.
(3) Each employer shall submit to the state directory of new hires a copy of
the W-4 form, the W-9 form, or, at the option of the employer, an equivalent form
for each newly hired employee in Colorado. The report may be transmitted to the
state department by first-class mail, magnetically, or electronically. The report
must contain the newly hired employee's name, date of birth, address, social
security number, whether the new hire is an employee or service provider, and the
date services for remuneration were first performed by the newly hired employee.
The report must contain the name and address of the employer and the identifying
number assigned to the employer pursuant to the federal Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, 26 U.S.C. sec. 6109. An employer is not liable for furnishing information
pursuant to this section. An employer is not required to submit to the state
directory of new hires a report concerning any employee hired for less than thirty
days.
(4) Beginning not later than May 1, 1998, the state child support enforcement
agency shall conduct automated comparisons of the social security numbers
reported by employers pursuant to this section and the social security numbers
appearing in the records of the family support registry for cases being enforced
under the state plan. The state department may contract for the performance of the
comparisons required by this subsection (4) with another governmental agency or a
private entity.
(5) An employer that has employees who are employed in two or more states
and that transmits reports magnetically or electronically may designate one state
to which the employer shall submit reports. Any multistate employer that elects to
transmit all reports to one state shall notify the secretary of the federal
department of health and human services, in writing, which state the employer has
designated for purposes of reporting.
(6) All employers shall report a newly hired employee within twenty calendar
days after the date the employer hires the employee or, at the election of the
employer, at the time of the first regularly scheduled payroll following the date of
hire if such payroll is subsequent to the expiration of the twenty-day period.
Reports submitted magnetically or electronically shall be submitted by two
monthly transmissions, when necessary, and in all instances, the report shall be
transmitted no more than twenty calendar days after the date of hire or, at the
election of the employer, at the time of the first regularly scheduled payroll
following the date of hire if such payroll is subsequent to the expiration of the
twenty-day period.
(7) (a) Within five business days after receipt of a report from an employer
concerning a newly hired employee, the state child support enforcement agency
shall enter the information into the state directory of new hires.
(b) Within two business days after the date the information regarding a
newly hired employee is entered into the state directory of new hires, the state
child support enforcement agency shall transmit an income assignment to the
employer of the employee directing the employer to withhold an amount equal to
the monthly child support obligation, including any past-due support obligation of
the employee.
(c) Within three business days after the date the information regarding a
newly hired employee is entered into the state directory of new hires, the state
directory of new hires shall furnish the information to the national directory of new
hires.
(d) No later than two years after the date the information regarding a newly
hired employee is entered into the state directory of new hires, the state child
support enforcement agency shall remove such name and information from the
directory.
(8) (a) Information contained within the reports shall be made available to
delegate child support enforcement units and their agents in order to locate
individuals for purposes of establishing paternity or for purposes of establishing,
modifying, or enforcing child support obligations.
(b) Information contained within the reports must be made available to the
administrators of the following programs for purposes of establishing or verifying
eligibility or benefit amounts: Public assistance pursuant to the Colorado works
program, as defined in section 26-2-703 (5); medicaid; food stamps; supplemental
security income benefits; cash assistance programs pursuant to this title; public
assistance as defined in section 26-2-103 (7); child care assistance pursuant to part
1 of article 4 of title 26.5; and unemployment compensation.
(c) Information contained within the reports shall be available to the
department of labor and employment and the state agency operating the workers'
compensation program.
(9) (a) No later than twenty days after a service recipient pays remuneration
to or contracts for services with a service provider in an amount set forth in 26
U.S.C. sec. 6041, whichever is earlier, the service recipient shall report to the state
directory of new hires the following information:
(I) For each service provider who is newly paid or contracted for services
provided in this state, the service provider's name, date of birth, address, social
security number, and whether the service provider is being reported as a service
provider and not as an employee; and
(II) The service recipient's name, address, and social security number.
(b) A service recipient may report remuneration or contracts for services
pursuant to this subsection (9) if the value of the services is less than the amount
set forth in 26 U.S.C. sec. 6041 or unknown.
(c) Information that is reported by a service recipient pursuant to this
subsection (9) is confidential but must be made available for use by state agencies
that administer state plans pursuant to Title IV-D of the federal Social Security
Act, including state agencies in other states.
(d) A service recipient who fails to provide a report pursuant to this
subsection (9) is subject to the same enforcement action available for failure of an
employer to report a newly hired employee.
(e) A service recipient who reports information to the state directory of new
hires pursuant to this section is immune from civil liability.