Employers

California Employer Resource Center

For information regarding the employer’s role and responsibility under California’s child support program, please visit the CA Department of Child Support Services website at

http://www.childsup.ca.gov/Employer.aspx

Employer Forum

For information on our past webinars, including a video of an Employer Forum held March 28, 2012, please visit the Employer Forum webpage to view the event.

CSDA Employer Handbook

The information in the CSDA Employer Handbook is intended to answer common questions about working with local child support offices as it relates to the employer’s role in processing child support obligations. Specifically, the CSDA Employer Handbook includes information on:
  • State Disbursement Unit (SDU)
  • Employer Checklist for Withholding
  • Questions and Answers about Employment and Income Verification
  • Questions and Answers about Income Withholding
  • Calculating Child Support Deductions
  • Questions and Answers about New Hire Reporting
  • Employer Checklist for Child Support Health Insurance Enforcement
  • Questions and Answers about Medical Support
  • Contacts for Employers
  • Federal Employer Portal

Electronic Income Withholding Orders (e-IWO)

Income Withholding is a critical part of the child support enforcement program. In an effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Income Withholding, the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement implemented the electronic exchange of Income Withholding Orders, “e-IWO”. With e-IWO states send, and employers receive Income Withholding Orders electronically. In addition, an electronic acknowledgement process enables employers to notify states, tribes or territories about the status of an existing income withholding order.

The electronic transmission of IWOs will increase processing efficiency and improve the speed with which payments are made to families by:

  • reducing the time from IWO preparation to employer processing,
  • reducing errors that can occur through manual processing,
  • reducing cost of postage and processing paper documents and,
  • providing an on-going communications link between child support enforcement agencies and employers should additional actions be necessary.

The following information provides states, tribes, territories, and employers with the information to participate in the e-IWO project.

Additional Information for Employers

How Employers Help their Communities by Complying with Child Support Withholding

  • By deducting for child and medical support obligations – More than 70% of child support collections sent to families come from income withholding.
  • By saving taxpayers’ dollars – Child support collections reimburse public assistance spending and reduce government spending by increasing child support collections for families who would otherwise by forced to seek public assistance.
  • By preventing and reducing fraud – State agencies use new hire employment information to reduce overpayments in areas of public assistance, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and workers compensation benefits.
  • By promoting a stable and reliable workforce – Employees whose children are provided consistent support will face less stress and be better able to focus on their jobs.
  • By encouraging a future skilled workforce – Providing financial stability through child support contributes to the education and training of a new generation of workers.