The job is a first paycheck’s state paperwork. In California, EDD is California’s Employment Development Department, the state office that handles employer payroll tax accounts. That paperwork is the unemployment-tax account, the wage returns, and the new-hire report. Workplace injury insurance is required in California. It stays with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR). It is not a payroll-tax form.
Texas uses a different office. TWC is the Texas Workforce Commission, the state unemployment-tax office. Do not copy California’s 15-day or $100 rules onto Texas. Texas has its own tests. TWC also has its own 10-day registration instruction.
Each payroll vendor carries three California letters. Those letters are allowed to conflict. A product that files quarterly returns can still leave the first EDD registration on you. That is a feature of the scorecard. It is not a math error.
What a letter means
Letters are category judgments. They come from three places. First, the Unemployment Insurance Code and the Labor Code. Second, dated EDD and DIR pages. Third, the vendor’s published California help article. They are not averages of review-site stars.
We will not print a vendor’s tax rate as if EDD published it.
| Band | EDD / UI account | CA returns | New-hire DE 34 |
|---|---|---|---|
| A–B | Vendor help describes a registration path that can open the California account. It still names the eight-digit account number EDD assigns. You must hold that number. | Vendor help names the California wage and deposit forms it claims to file. | Vendor help claims the new-hire report (DE 34) to the New Employee Registry. |
| C | Vendor help tells you to register at EDD. That is not a registration service. | Filings are claimed only on a higher-tier plan. Or they are claimed only after third-party administrator (TPA) paperwork the vendor names. | Vendor help puts DE 34 on you. The 20-day clock is still the statute. |
| D–F | No current official help page names a registration path. Or the product is sold as if it erased the EDD clock. | No current help page names which California returns the vendor files. | New-hire reporting is omitted. Or it is contradicted by the EDD New Employee Registry page. |
EDD / UI account
California sources: UIC § 675, § 1086, and EDD’s registration and Step 3 pages. The grade asks who opens the eight-digit Employer Payroll Tax Account Number, and what you still have to enter. Confirm any fee on those EDD pages. EDD does not publish a registration fee there.
CA returns
Form numbers come from the vendor’s own help article. Use EDD’s names for those forms, not a software glossary.
New-hire DE 34
The clock is EDD’s New Employee Registry and UIC § 1088.5. That clock is 20 calendar days from the start-of-work date. A vendor that claims the filing gets credit for the claim. A vendor that puts DE 34 on you is graded as leaving that clock on you.
Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Michigan are different scorecards
The three letters on the directory are the California scorecard. Texas is explained on its own page. Texas has no state paycheck-withholding account. Workplace injury insurance is optional for most private Texas employers. Do not copy California clocks onto Texas.
New York is also its own page. One registration covers unemployment insurance, withholding, and wage reporting. Workplace injury insurance is required for most private New York employers who have employees. Do not copy California clocks onto New York. Do not copy Texas rules onto New York.
Florida is also its own page. DOR collects reemployment tax. A new business reports initial employment in the month after the quarter hiring begins. Workplace injury insurance is required at four employees in most shops. Do not copy California clocks onto Florida. Do not copy New York’s $300-quarter rule onto Florida.
Illinois is also its own page. IDES is the Illinois Department of Employment Security. IDOR is the Illinois Department of Revenue. One MyTax Illinois registration covers IDOR withholding and IDES unemployment insurance. Workplace injury insurance is due when the first employee starts. Do not copy California clocks onto Illinois. Do not copy Florida’s four-employee wait onto Illinois.
Pennsylvania is also its own page. L&I is the Department of Labor & Industry. One covered worker starts unemployment compensation. Register on myPATH within 30 days. Local earned income tax is a separate collector. Workplace injury insurance is due when the first employee starts. Do not copy California clocks onto Pennsylvania. Do not copy Illinois’s $1,500-quarter or 20-week tests onto Pennsylvania.
Ohio is also its own page. ODJFS is the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. A regular shop becomes an employer at $1,500 in a quarter, or one person in 20 weeks. Unemployment registration rides The SOURCE. Withholding is a 15-day Ohio Department of Taxation clock on the Ohio Business Gateway. Workplace injury insurance is a Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) policy from the first hire. Do not copy California clocks onto Ohio. Do not copy Pennsylvania’s one-worker unemployment clock onto Ohio.
Georgia is also its own page. GDOL is the Georgia Department of Labor. A regular shop becomes an employer at $1,500 in a quarter, or one person in 20 weeks. Unemployment registration rides GDOL. Withholding rides the Georgia Tax Center. New-hire reports are due in 10 days. Workplace injury insurance starts at three regular employees. Do not copy California clocks onto Georgia. Do not copy Pennsylvania’s one-worker unemployment clock onto Georgia. Do not copy Florida’s four-employee wait onto Georgia.
New Jersey is also its own page. NJ DOL is the Department of Labor and Workforce Development. A regular shop becomes an employer at $1,000 in a calendar year. One NJ-REG opens Gross Income Tax withholding and unemployment. New-hire reports are due in 20 days. Workplace injury insurance starts with the first worker. Do not copy California clocks onto New Jersey. Do not copy Georgia’s two-portal start-up onto New Jersey. Do not copy Illinois’s $1,500-quarter or 20-week tests onto New Jersey.
North Carolina is also its own page. DES is the N.C. Division of Employment Security. A regular shop becomes an employer at $1,500 in a quarter, or one person in 20 weeks. Unemployment registration rides NCSUITS, the North Carolina State Unemployment Insurance Tax System. Withholding rides NCDOR, the North Carolina Department of Revenue. New-hire reports are due in 20 days. Workplace injury insurance starts at three regular employees. Do not copy California clocks onto North Carolina. Do not copy New Jersey’s one-form start-up onto North Carolina. Do not copy Florida’s four-employee wait onto North Carolina.
Michigan is also its own page. UIA is the Unemployment Insurance Agency. A regular shop becomes an employer at $1,000 in a calendar year, or one person in 20 weeks. One e-Registration can open withholding and unemployment. Withholding still rides Michigan Treasury Online. Unemployment still rides MiUI. New-hire reports are due in 20 days. Workplace injury insurance starts at three employees at one time, or when one person works 35 hours a week for 13 weeks. WDCA is the Workers’ Disability Compensation Agency. Do not copy California clocks onto Michigan. Do not copy New Jersey’s first-worker workplace-injury rule onto Michigan. Do not copy North Carolina’s three-employee-only wait onto Michigan.
Related guide: Hiring your first employee is the federal checklist that sits beside these state clocks.
Related guide: Independent contractor vs employee is the federal label check before these state clocks. The clocks apply when the person is an employee.