Electronic Data Reporting

Chapter 5 - MWR Reporting Procedures

This chapter contains specific procedures for MWR reporting only. If you are reporting only for the CES program, you may skip this chapter and go directly to Chapter 6, Data Transmittal Procedures.

5.1 Creating the MWR Standardized File

To create the MWR standardized file, you need to create an ASCII text file, 350 characters long, containing a total of 27 fields (data elements). The first 17 fields are common to both the CES and MWR programs. The remaining 10 fields are unique to the MWR program and contain economic data such as monthly employment, quarterly wages, and certain business identification information. See Appendix B for the MWR's standardized file format layout.

5.2 Worksite Information

The EDI Center needs comprehensive MWR data to send to the State agencies to fulfill its reporting obligations to States. Any prospective EDI reporter should provide to the EDI center all worksites for all of its EINs including subsidiaries. If a firm is interested in EDI reporting, but may not be able to provide all payrolls electronically, please call the EDI Center to discuss.

BLS requests that, when transmitting your MWR data to the EDI Center, worksite information specific to the worksite be provided. In addition to the EIN and UI account number for the worksite, the EDI reporter must provide the trade name of the work site, the legal name of the business, a worksite description, and an establishment worksite identification code to assist in identifying the individual worksite within your firm.

Trade name - (required element) - This is the division or subsidiary name of the establishment. The trade name would be equivalent to the name on the door of the establishment if the public were to visit that physical location. "Mom's Restaurant" is an example of a trade name of ABC Enterprises (legal name). These are positions 30 to 64 of the file layout.

Legal name (required element) - The legal or corporate name of the establishment. For example, "ABC Enterprises" or "Smith Companies, Inc." These are positions 154 to 188 of the file layout.

Worksite description field - A meaningful, unique description of the establishment, such as a store number, unit number, or plant name (e.g., Store 101, Unit # 1812, or Jones River Plant). These are positions 189 to 223 of the file layout.

Worksite identification code - An alpha/numeric code that uniquely identifies the establishment at its address. This code is usually maintained in the company's internal accounting/payroll systems. These are positions 302 to 322 of the file layout. See the end of Section 3.3 for the crosswalk discussion that relates the worksite identification code field with the combination of EIN, State UI account number, and RUN fields.

5.3 Monthly Employment

The monthly employment reported for each location (worksite) on the MWR should be a count of all full- and part-time workers who worked during or received pay (subject to Unemployment Insurance wages) for the pay period which includes the 12th day of the month. The count should be unduplicated, so that for the reference period in any month, an employee should be counted only once. The summed employment for all worksites reported on the MWR should equal the employment total reported on the State Quarterly Contribution Report.

The EDI reporter should only count those individuals who worked or received pay for the pay period including the 12th day of the month. So, if the EDI reporter had a weekly payroll, and the employer had employees who started the fourth week of the month, those employees would not be included in the monthly employment count for that month since these late hires were not working or receiving pay for the pay period including the 12th. Although those employees would not be reflected in the employment count field, their wages for that month would be included in the quarterly wage field below. See below for explanation.

5.4 Quarterly Wages

Total (quarterly) wages, sometimes called gross wages or simply wages, are the total amount of wages paid or payable (depending on the wording of the State law) to workers covered by State Unemployment Insurance laws for services performed during the quarter. The summed wages paid to workers for all worksites reported on the MWR should equal that amount of wages reported on the State Quarterly Contribution Report. When you have any questions whether to include or exclude some form of payment that may be considered as wages, follow the same procedure that you used to determine its wage status when you file the State Quarterly Contribution Report.

5.5 Providing Information on Data Changes

The EDI Center encourages prospective EDI reporters to explain any large changes in employment or wages due to store closure, layoffs, bonuses, seasonal changes, etc. If any units are being reported for the first time, following the expansion of operations or the purchase of units from another firm, please provide a description of the business activity(s) that will be conducted at each new establishment. This will assist BLS in assigning industrial classification codes to the new unit(s). In addition, if units were purchased from another firm, please provide the name of the firm, the effective date of the transaction, and the UI number of the seller, if known. If units have been sold to another firm, please provide the name of the firm, the effective date of the transaction, and the UI number of the purchaser, if known. All of the above information can be provided to the EDI Center in a number of different ways and formats, and should be discussed with EDI Center staff during the EDI enrollment process.

5.6 Transmittal Due Dates

Multiple Worksite Reports should be transmitted to the EDI Center in Chicago on or before the last day of the month following the end of the quarter. For example, data for the January-March period must be submitted by April 30th. Data for the reference quarter of April to June must be submitted by July 31st.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Appendix A, B, C, D, E, F

Last Modified Date: September 27, 2005