Employer guideRead at source September 28, 2026

Alabama New Hire Reporting: 7-Day Deadline, What to Report and How to File (2026)

Alabama employers must report each new hire, recall or rehire within 7 days of hiring (Code of Alabama 25-11-5), and employers with 5 or more employees must report online, where twice-monthly transmissions are allowed. Independent contractors are not reported. The penalty is up to $25 per violation (Code of Alabama 25-11-17).

Alabama new hire reporting at a glance

Alabama gives employers 7 days, against the federal outer limit of 20 described in our new hire reporting requirements guide. In practice many employers work to a different clock, because Alabama requires online filing from employers with 5 or more employees and online filers can use a twice-monthly schedule.

Seven days, or twice a month online

Section 25-11-5(a) says an employer "shall report to the department, within seven days of hiring, each new hire, recall, or rehire," and allows employers to transmit electronically "twice a month, not less than 12 days nor more than 16 days apart." The department's rule (Ala. Admin. Code r. 480-1-1-.11) and its FAQ connect the two: since May 1, 2008, employers with 5 or more employees must register and report over the internet, and employers reporting by internet upload are only required to report twice a month. Employers with fewer than 5 employees who mail or fax W-4s are held to the 7 days from the first day of work.

One rule on the current portal matters for frontline hiring: "Employment must be reported when the employee actually begins work. Bulk reports submitted for future start dates will be declined and cannot be processed." If your onboarding system exports a batch of accepted offers the night before orientation, the records for people who have not started yet will bounce. Report from the first shift actually worked.

What an Alabama report must show

The statute requires the name, address, Social Security number and date of hire of each new, recalled or rehired individual, and "the name, address, and state and federal identification numbers of the employer." The Alabama New Hire Center lists these required fields:

• Employer: the FEIN used for quarterly wage reports, the employer name as it appears on those reports, and the address for receiving income withholding orders. The portal asks you to make sure both your FEIN and Alabama employer account number (EAN) are valid before building an upload file.
• Employee: Social Security number, legal name as it appears on the Social Security card, physical address, date of hire (the latest date the person began or returned to work) and state of hire.
• New or recalled: the department's page and FAQ require every report to say whether the person was newly hired or recalled, and W-4s sent on paper must carry that note along with the first day of work.

Where Alabama reports go

Register and file at the Alabama New Hire Center, either by entering hires on a form or by uploading a file. The Center publishes instructions and samples for CSV (its recommended format) and fixed-length text files. All third-party submissions, such as those from a payroll provider, must be electronic.

Employers with fewer than 5 employees may instead mail or fax a copy of each W-4, marked with the first day of work and whether the person is a new hire or a recall, to: Alabama Department of Labor, Attn: New-Hire Clerk, 649 Monroe Street, Room 3203, Montgomery, AL 36131. The fax number is (334) 206-6020. The old NH-1 report-of-hire card is no longer accepted. Questions go to the New-Hire Unit at (334) 206-6020 or newhire@labor.alabama.gov.

Independent contractors

Not required. The department's FAQ answers directly: "Alabama follows Federal law, and does not require the reporting of Independent contractors as new hires." The statute defines an employee as someone who performs a service for hire and receives wages.

Penalty and late reports

Section 25-11-17 provides that anyone violating the chapter "may be subject to an administrative penalty not to exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) per violation." The New Hire Center describes it as a $25.00 penalty for each newly hired or recalled worker not reported, and says the department enforces the law with citations.

Missing the deadline does not end the obligation. The Center says late reports must still be filed up to 12 months from the worker's start date, because Health and Human Services still needs the information; after 12 months the system rejects the date. It also warns that late reports may still result in citations and fines. The Center's registration page asks employers to review their records and report every new or recalled employee from the last 12 months.

Recalls, rehires and seasonal returns

Alabama's statute separates three events: a new hire (employed by that employer for the first time), a recall (temporarily separated and called back) and a rehire (separated on other than a temporary basis and returning). All three are reportable. The New Hire Center gives the working thresholds: a recalled worker is one separated for more than 60 consecutive days and recalled; someone separated a year or more and returning should be reported as newly hired, not recalled. For each returning worker, the date reported is the date they last began work.

Alabama also accepts one optional report that has nothing to do with hiring. Under the department's FAQ, employers may optionally report individuals who refuse work. The stated purpose is to disqualify unemployment or TANF recipients who turn down work they are qualified for.

Multistate employers

A multistate employer can report every hire to a single state after notifying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in writing. The department notes a trade-off: if you designate another state, Alabama cannot use your data for its own fraud detection, and an employer choosing Alabama as its single state must report electronically. See the parent guide for registration.

Hiring in Alabama

Pair this page with our Alabama labor laws hub, the Alabama minimum wage page, and our guides to Form I-9 and E-Verify requirements by state. Boostpoint runs social job ads for frontline employers on Facebook and Instagram. Our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta) found a national median of $13.88 in advertising per applicant; the benchmark is not split by state.

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