W2 Digital Delivery Checklist

For districts who use ESS, their employees can elect to receive their W2 digitally. Employees that elect to receive their W2 digitally will not receive the typical 8.5” X 14” Z-Fold W2. Instead, employees will log into their ESS account and access their W2. For more information on the IRS’s rules and requirements on furnishing W2 information electronically to employees, click here.

The information below outlines the steps needed to implement W2 digital delivery.

In USPS:

1. Go to System>Configuration>W2 Configuration. Click Edit. Mark the Enable W2 Digital Delivery checkbox and click Save.

In ESS:

For districts that wish to allow employees the option to receive their W2’s digitally:

2. Go to System>Configuration>W2 Configuration. Click Edit. Mark the Allow Digital Only W2 checkbox and click Save. This will display the W2 Acknowledgement button found in each user’s Profile record.

NOTE: We recently updated ESS to require W2 acknowledgement upon login. All users will be prompted to complete this acknowledgement, even if they have previously opted in or out of receiving an electronic W2. This is a one-time requirement. Once they have completed the acknowledgement, they will no longer be prompted at login.

3. On the W2 Acknowledgement, it will display the Legal Notification of Acknowledgement as well as the required tools needed to access your W2 electronically. Please review.

4. Enter your digital signature (exactly how it appears), select today’s date and either select ‘Consent to Receiving Digital Only W2’ or ‘Revoke Consent to Receive Digital Only W2’ and click Submit.

5. If you wish to generate a copy of your signed acknowledgement, under your user Profile, click ‘W2 Acknowledgement’ and then click ‘Print Acknowledgement’ if you wish to create a PDF copy of your consent

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. When an employee signs the W2 acknowledgement consent form, what are they consenting to?

   • When accessing their W2 Acknowledgement, the Legal Notification on Acknowledgement can be reviewed prior to signing. The default notification states the following:

Open

NOTE: The verbiage used for W-2 digital delivery consent may be customized or modified by the district to align with its policies and procedures.

2. Does the supervisor or district office receive an (email) notification that an employee consented to digital delivery of their W2?

   1. Not at this time. However, in ESS, for users with Admin or District Manager role, the District W2 Acknowledgement View allows them to view employees who have consented to W2 digital delivery. From this grid, you are able to view or print an employee’s W2 digital acknowledgment.

3. Should our district establish a cut-off date for employees to consent digital delivery of their W2s?

   1. Yes, we strongly recommend that the district communicate to employees in advance a cut-off date (or time period) where employees must either consent or revoke their digital W2 delivery acknowledgment. This ensures sufficient time for the treasurer’s office to prepare and process W2s for their district.

   2. To disable W2 Acknowledgement at the cut-off date, in ESS, either the Admin or District Manager role will navigate to System>Configuration>W2 Configuration. Click Edit. Uncheck the Allow Digital Only W2 checkbox and click Save. This will remove the W2 Acknowledgement button found in each user’s Profile record, preventing a user from consenting (or revoking) their W2 Acknowledgement for W2 Digital Delivery. Once W2s have been printed for the calendar year and the district is ready to allow users access to the W2 Acknowledgement option again, Admin or District Manager role should re-check the Allow Digital Only W2 checkbox under System>Configuration>W2 Configuration in ESS.

4. When an employee consents to receiving their W2 digitally, what changes occur with W2 processing?

   1. In USPS, the following occurs:

      1. The employee will not receive a printed physical copy of their W2.

      2. When viewing the employee’s information in the W2 Report and Submission>Report, you will see the following:

         1. ‘Digital Only W2' value will state 'Yes.’

         2. The employee will be included in the Report Summary>Total Number of Employees count.

         3. The employee will be included in the Report Summary>Total Number of W2 Forms count.

         4. The employee will be included in the Report Summary>Total Number of Digital W2 Forms count.

      3. The employee will not be included in W2 Report and Submission>Forms and XML and W2 Mailable Forms files. These files are sorted based on the sort option selected when the file is generated.

      4. The employee will be included in the W2 Report and Submission>Submission file. The submission file will be sorted in non Medicare/FICA employees followed by Medicare employees and then each of these groups is sorted by the sort option selected when the file is generated.

   2. In ESS, the following occurs:

      1. When the W2 Archive Individual Forms is processed in USPS and produces a file in the Utilities/File Archive/W2 Archive folder for the year being reported, the digital copy will be available to view in ESS

      2. Under View/Print W2, the employee has the ability to view or download a copy of their W2. A copy of the IRS Employee Notice is also available to download under this option.

5. Is there a way to print a paper employer copy for all employees (those that have elected to receive their W2’s electronically and for those that have not)?

   1. Yes, to print an employer copy for all employees receiving a W2 go to W2 Report and Submission. When selecting either the Forms or XML option, mark the ‘Include Digital Only W2 Employees’ checkbox.

6. How does the W2 Report sort when the ‘Digital Only W2’ option is selected?

   1. As the W2 Report has in the past, the report will list non Medicare/FICA and Medicare employees separately and then the sorting happens within each group. The ‘Digital Only W2' sort option is based upon the Yes/No value listed on the report.  Employees with the Employee>Digital Only W2 value unmarked (meaning the employee would receive a printed copy of their W2) will be listed first followed by employees with the Employee>Digital Only W2 value marked (meaning the employee would not receive a printed copy of their W2). The secondary sort is employee name. So, all employees with the ‘Digital Only W2’ value unmarked are sorted alphabetically as a group then all the employees with the 'Digital Only W2' marked are sorted by name within that group.

7. When choosing the W2 Mailable, XML, and/or Forms output options and selecting ‘Digital Only W2’ sort option, what does this sort option do?

   1. The Digital Only W2 sort option becomes an available sort option when the System>Configuration>W2 Configuration>Enable W2 Digital Delivery checkbox is marked. When this checkbox is marked the sort option is then available on all output types - even though the W2 Report and Submission>Forms and XML, and W2 Mailable Forms files won’t include these employees. If the option is selected in these cases, the sort will revert to employee name.

8. Is there a way to notify employees when their digital W2’s are available to view in ESS?

   1. Yes. In ESS, users with Admin or District Manager role can access System>W2 Mass Email option which allows them to send a mass email notification to Digital W2 employees that their W2 is available to view in ESS. The Admin or District manager role can create an email template message indicating the W2 is available along with instructions on how to view and/or print the form in ESS.

   2. Once the template has been saved and finalized, the Admin or District Manager role clicks Send Emails to notify all Digital W2 recipients that their W2 is available to view in ESS.

9. What if an employee decides to return to receiving a paper copy of their W2?

   1. An employee may withdraw their consent for digital delivery by performing the following:

      1. Log into ESS and access their Profile

      2. In the user’s Profile, select the W2 Acknowledgement

      3. Select Revoke Consent to Receive Digital Only W2 and click submit to update their acknowledgement changes. The employee will then receive a paper copy of their W2 for future tax years.

      4. In USPS, the W2 Digital Delivery section of the Employee record will automatically update. The Digital Only W2 checkbox will be unchecked and Digital W2 Agreement Timestamp will reflect the date and time the revocation occurred.

10. What happens if an employee elects to receive their W2 digitally but resigns before the end of the calendar year? How will they receive their W2?

    1. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the district and the former employee to determine the preferred method of delivering the W-2. To assist with these situations, it is suggested to add a step to your exiting employee checklist that confirms how the employee wishes to receive their W2. This will allow the employee to make any changes to the delivery method ‘before it’s too late.' If a copy of the employee’s W2 is needed, go to the File Archive and click the W2 Archive tab. In the Year filter field, enter the appropriate year. Click the view icon. A pop up window will be displayed listing all W2’s for that calendar year. Find the employee and click the generate/download option. The W2 form can then be printed.

11. Is there a way to print a copy of all my W2’s for the calendar year (even those receiving their W2’s digitally)?

    • Of course! Simply go to the W2 Reports and Submission option. When selecting the Forms or XML option, an option called ‘Include Digital Only W2 Employees’ will be displayed (this checkbox is located below the Selected Employees grid). Mark the checkbox and click the Generate W2 Forms/Generate XML Output option. For more details on generating employer copies of W2’s, please refer to Step 38 of our USPS Calendar Year-End Closing Checklist.

12. Is there a way to get a count of those employee’s electing to receive their W2’s digitally and those receiving a physical W2 form?

    • Yes! A new count was added to bottom of the W2 Report and Submission Report. These totals included a total for the number of employees, total number of W2 forms, total number of physical W2 forms to be printed, and total number of digital W2 forms.

13. Can a W2C be created and delivered digitally?

    1. No. At this time W2C forms are created, printed, and distributed to the employee. Reminder: Employee can view their W2C’s as well in ESS under View/Print W2.