Hiring New Employees

Eligibility to Work in the United States

You must verify that each new employee is legally eligible to work in the United States. Have the employees you hire fill out Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification (PDF).

Employee’s Withholding Form

To know how much income tax to withhold from employees’ wages, you should have a Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate (PDF), on file for each employee. Ask all new employees to give you a signed Form W-4 when they start work. Make the form effective with the first wage payment. If employees claim exemption from income tax withholding, they must indicate this on their W-4. The amount of income tax withholding must be based on filing status and withholding allowances as indicated on the form. If a new employee does not give you a completed Form W-4, withhold tax as if he or she is single, with no withholding allowances. Additional withholding may be required on wages paid to non-resident aliens.

Report of New Employee(s)

All California employers must report all their new or rehired employees who work in California to the New Employee Registry within twenty (20) days of their start-of-work date. The start-of-work date is the first day services were performed for wages. Employers who file on magnetic media must submit two files each month. Have the employees you hire fill out the Form DE 34 (PDF).