Guide · checked October 22, 2026

I worked — but the registry says I didn't

Of every trap in this field, this is the cruelest: you did the work, inside the window, and the registry still shows you inactive — because the paperwork about your work never arrived.

How it happens

States split on who reports. In employer-reporting states — Illinois and Connecticut are the documented pair, Iowa works the same way — the facility files your work dates. Facilities are busy; filings get missed; the registry flips you to Inactive on schedule anyway. Illinois aides have shown Inactive while actively working for exactly this reason. In self-reporting states (California), the trap is simpler: nobody told you the filing was yours.

The fix is evidence, not testing

Registries accept proof of the work itself: pay stubs, W-2s, payroll printouts, signed employer statements (Ohio's rule names a facility statement or a statement from a physician or nurse with personal knowledge; Tennessee accepts a pay stub, payroll printout, or notarized attestation). Gather the window's evidence, file it with the registry, and get the employer's submission made. This route is free, and it is checked before any retest conversation.

Protect yourself going forward

• Keep every pay stub for at least 25 months — longer than the clock they prove.
• Once a year, look yourself up on your registry and screenshot the result.
• When you change jobs, ask the new employer when they file registry reports — and note the answer.
• Private-duty and sitter work may not count at all in your state (several states exclude it expressly). Know before you rely on it.

Run the status checker honestly — if you worked the hours, answer yes, and read the reporting note in your verdict; it names who was supposed to file in your state.