Employer guideRead at source September 28, 2026

Virginia New Hire Reporting: Deadline, Contractors and How to File (2026)

Virginia employers must report each new or rehired employee within 20 days of the first day on the job, and must also report each new independent contractor within 20 days of the start of the contract (Code of Virginia 63.2-1946). Reports go to the Virginia New Hire Reporting Center online at va-newhire.com or by fax or mail. Neither the statute nor the Center publishes a penalty for late reports.

Virginia new hire reporting at a glance

Virginia matches the federal 20-day limit laid out in our new hire reporting requirements guide, but it goes further than federal law on who gets reported. Since a 2020 amendment, anyone who contracts with an independent contractor must report that contractor too, on the same 20-day clock and with no dollar threshold in the statute.

Employees and contractors: two reporting duties

Section 63.2-1946 sets out two parallel obligations. Subsection C covers employees: each employing unit reports each newly hired employee within 20 days of the employment. Subsection D covers contractors: "Any employer that contracts with an independent contractor shall submit information concerning each new independent contractor to the Center within 20 days of the start of the contract."

Virginia also defines both groups in the statute itself:

• Newly hired employee: an individual in employment as defined in the Virginia Unemployment Compensation Act (Code of Virginia 60.2-212) who has not worked for you before, or who has been separated from your employment for at least 60 consecutive days. Note the reference point: Virginia uses its own unemployment insurance definition of employment, not only the federal income tax definition.
• New independent contractor: one who has not previously had a contract with you, or who had a contract and receives a payment after going at least 60 consecutive days without one.

The Center's FAQ says contractor reporting became mandatory on July 1, 2020, and its site describes a contractor as someone who provides a service for pay under any contract of hire, written or oral, and is not an employee under 60.2-212.

What goes on a Virginia report

• Required for each employee or contractor: full name (first, middle, last), address, Social Security number and date of hire.
• Required for the employer: corporate name, the address where income withholding orders should be sent, and the FEIN used for quarterly wage reports.
• Optional: the worker's date of birth and availability of medical benefits, and the employer's phone, fax, email and contact name.

Subsection G limits the information to what federal law requires, and names the acceptable paper sources: a copy of the employee's W-4, or of the independent contractor's W-9.

Filing with the Virginia New Hire Reporting Center

Register at va-newhire.com to report online, with a printable confirmation, or to send data files through the site or by FTP. Paper reports can be the Center's New Hire Reporting Form, a legible W-4 with the employer name, FEIN and address at the top, or a printed list in at least 10-point type. Fax them toll-free to (800) 688-2680, or mail them to the Virginia New Hire Reporting Center, PO Box 3449, Trenton, NJ 08619. The help desk at (800) 979-9014 is open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

When the 20 days begin

Virginia's entry in the federal state contact guide puts it simply: report "within twenty (20) days of the employees' first day on the job." For an employee that is the first day of paid work. For a contractor it is the start of the contract. Employers who transmit electronically may instead report in two monthly transmissions, not less than 12 nor more than 16 days apart (subsection E).

In a frontline operation the gap between offer and first shift is where reports go wrong. A senior living community in Richmond hires a caregiver whose background check clears a week later than expected; the report is due 20 days after the day she actually starts, not after the offer letter. An employee who works one shift and leaves is still reported.

Penalties in Virginia

We found no penalty for late or missing reports in section 63.2-1946, and the Center's law page does not publish one. It notes only that federal law gives states the option of civil penalties. What the Center does describe is follow-up: it uses a quarterly federal report to mail notices to employers who appear not to have reported every hire, and it contacts employers whose reporting seems to have lapsed. A mismatched FEIN between new hire and wage reports can make you look non-compliant.

Rehires and seasonal returns

Both statutory definitions use the same 60-day line. An employee separated for at least 60 consecutive days is newly hired again when they return, and a contractor who receives a payment after at least 60 consecutive days without one is a new contractor again. The Center lists teachers, substitutes and seasonal workers among the rehires to report. Temporary agencies report a worker once and again as a rehire after a break in service.

Two edge cases from the Center's FAQ

Household employers are not exempt: the FAQ says employers with only household or domestic employees must still report them, and it counts part-time, seasonal and less-than-a-day employees too. And if you take over a business, you do not need to re-report employees who were already reported, as long as you will honor the income withholding notices already in effect. If you will not honor them, report every employee as a new hire. When you are unsure whether the previous owner reported someone, the Center recommends reporting anyone hired within the last 180 days.

Multistate employers

Employers with employees or contractors in two or more states who file electronically may report everyone to one designated state. Virginia adds a requirement in subsection E: after notifying the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing, you must also send a copy of that notification to the Virginia New Hire Reporting Center. Full registration steps are on our new hire reporting guide.

Hiring in Virginia

Go deeper with our Virginia labor laws hub, the current Virginia minimum wage, Form I-9 requirements and our new hire forms checklist. Boostpoint runs Facebook and Instagram job ads for frontline employers; across our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta) the median campaign cost $13.88 per applicant in ad spend. That is a national figure; the benchmark has no Virginia breakout.

Frequently asked questions