Kentucky — Hiring & Onboarding

Kentucky requires all employers to report newly hired and rehired employees to the Kentucky New Hire Reporting Center within 20 days of the hire date. The requirement applies to any employee the employer anticipates paying, including full-time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary workers. An employee must be reported even if hired for only one day. Rehires are also reportable if the employee was separated from employment for at least 60 consecutive days. Required information includes the employee's name, address, and Social Security number, plus the employer's name, address, and federal EIN.

Source: KRS 405.435 and 42 U.S.C. § 653a

Unable to confirm as of 2026-06-17.

If an employer fails to report a newly hired or rehired employee to the Kentucky New Hire Reporting Center (the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General) within the required 20 days under KRS 405.435(1)-(2), a specific penalty process applies:

• First, the Office of the Attorney General sends a written notice to the employer describing the requirement and the penalty for failing to report.

• If the employer does not file the required W-4 (or equivalent form) within 20 days after this first notice, or submits a false or incomplete report, and the failure results from a conspiracy between the employer and the employee, the Attorney General issues a second notice via certified mail, return receipt requested. This notice states that an administrative fine will be imposed.

• The fine is $250 per calendar month per person, for every full month the violation persists after the second notice. No fine is imposed for periods less than a full calendar month.

• The employer may request a hearing before the Attorney General within 10 days of receiving the second notice, to contest the fine. Any hearing must comply with the administrative regulations under KRS Chapter 13A.

Source: KRS 405.435

Kentucky does not mandate private employers to use E-Verify (the federal electronic employment eligibility verification system operated by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration) when hiring new employees. Enrollment in and use of E-Verify remains strictly voluntary for private sector employers in Kentucky, unless a specific contract or incentive program includes an E-Verify requirement as a condition of participation. As of June 2026, there is no Kentucky statute or administrative regulation requiring E-Verify for general private employment, nor directing public employers to use E-Verify as a matter of state law.

Employers in Kentucky are still required to complete federal Form I-9 for each new hire, as mandated by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), to verify both identity and employment authorization. E-Verify can only be used as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the Form I-9 requirement. Federal law requires certain federal contractors to use E-Verify, consistent with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) E-Verify clause, but this does not apply to most private Kentucky employers absent a qualifying federal contract or future state law change.

Practitioners should note that while legislative proposals requiring E-Verify have been introduced in Kentucky, no such measure has been enacted as of this writing. Should this change, the guide will be updated.

Source: USCIS E-Verify for Employers | ICE: Kentucky E-Verify Requirements | 8 U.S.C. § 1324a