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Spotlight PEPPOL BIS Billing 3.0 The EU e-invoicing mandate is here — France Sept 2026, Belgium Jan 2026, Germany 2025.

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X12 540 — Notice of Employment Status

The 540 notifies an employment status change — hire, fire, promotion, leave — from an employer to a government agency or child support enforcement.

Purpose

The 540 documents reportable employment events: new hire reporting (mandated by PRWORA), termination, promotion, address change, leave of absence. It feeds state new hire registries for child support collection.

It is mandatory within 20 days of a new hire in the US. Acknowledged by 997. Pairs with 287 (Wage Determination) and 288 (Wage Verification).

Envelope structure

The 540 travels within the three X12 envelope levels (ISA/IEA, GS/GE with functional group NE, and ST/SE). Didactic example in release 004010:

x12 example-540.x12 
ISA*00*          *00*          *ZZ*EMPLOYER      *ZZ*STATEREGISTRY *260515*1000*U*00401*000000540*0*P*>~
GS*NE*EMPLOYER*STATEREGISTRY*20260515*1000*1*X*004010~
ST*540*0001~
BGN*00*ES-2026-7711*20260515~
N1*EM*ACME EMPLOYER INC*24*EIN-EMPLOYER~
NM1*IL*1*MARTINEZ*ELENA*K***34*SSN-LAST4-7711~
DMG*D8*19891025*F~
N3*789 OAK ST~
N4*AUSTIN*TX*78704~
REF*ZZ*EVENT-NEW-HIRE~
DTM*090*20260501~
SE*10*0001~
GE*1*1~
IEA*1*000000540~

Common segments

  • Header — ST, BGN.
  • Employer — N1*EM.
  • Employee — NM1*IL, DMG, N3/N4.
  • Event / date — REF*ZZ, DTM*090.
  • Summary — SE.

Common pitfalls

  • 20-day rule: the new hire 540 must be sent within 20 days of hire date; beyond, the employer faces state penalties.
  • SSN privacy: a 540 transmits the full SSN only over an encrypted channel; in clear text it violates SSA SSN policy.
  • Rehire vs new hire: a rehire after a layoff depends on absence duration — confusing rehire with new hire skews child support enforcement.

Documentation

The code 540 and the name Notice of Employment Status are public and listed on x12.org/products/transaction-sets. The complete structure of loops, qualifiers and code lists is distributed by DISA via the proprietary Implementation Guides (TR3). ediverse.io covers only public concepts, the envelope and didactic examples.