POMS Reference

DI 13010: Work Activity

TN 39 (09-16)

A. Introduction to NDNH

The Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) and SSA have a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) that allows authorized SSA employees query-only access to the National Directory of New Hires (NDNH). This database contains quarterly new hire, wage and unemployment information reported by the States and the District of Columbia to OCSE. Employees utilize the database when investigating potential earnings.

B. Policy for NDNH

An authorized user, such as a title II claims specialist, may only query NDNH database information on those SSNs that have a business relationship with SSA. For current disability beneficiaries, the relationship has already been established. For initial claimants, an application for benefits based on disability (DIB, DWB, CDB) must be established on MCS. This will create the necessary relationship for the claimant's SSN that will grant authorized SSA employees query-only access to the NDNH database information.

Earnings are posted quarterly to the database based on when the earnings are paid to the claimant/beneficiary. For initial claims, earnings information should only be used as a lead when investigating earnings for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries. It is still necessary to develop earnings through established procedures outlined in DI 10505.005D.

For post-entitlement determinations, follow the procedures outlined in DI 10505.005C to determine monthly earnings using the NDNH.

C. Procedure – Accessing the Query

To access the query:

  • Select 9, the Master File Query (MFQM), from the SSA Main Menu.

  • Select 7, the Data Exchange Query Menu (DXQM) from the Master File Query menu (MFQM), and enter the SSN.

  • Select 4, NDNH T-II DIB from the DXQM menu.

NOTE: There is a similar query, NDNH T-XVI (Selection 1) on the menu. Access to this path will be denied without the correct security profile.

D. References

MSOM QUERIES 003.015, National Directory New Hire, Wage and Unemployment Menu (NDNH)

MSOM QUERIES 003.017, Wages Info (NDWG)

MSOM QUERIES 003.019, Data Exchange Query Menu (DXQM)

E. Procedure - Reading the NDNH T-II DIB QUERY

The NDNH screen contains information on both wage and unemployment reports. If there is a “Y” in either column, there is a report for that quarter.

Overkey the “Y” with an “X” to view information for each quarterly report and hit Enter.