Employers - Child Support Rules & Regulations

When you receive an Order/Notice to Withhold Income for child support, federal and state regulations require you to:

• Start withholding child support no later than the first pay period within 14 working days of the date of the Order/Notice;
• Send the withheld child support to the address on the order/notice within 2 business days from the date the employee is paid.

Support payments and handling fees must be paid to the Support Payment Clearinghouse.

Important: Child support withholdings take priority over any other legal process, even if another withholding order was served first. Child support must be withheld, up to 50% of the employee’s disposable earnings, before deductions for other withholding orders are taken. The only exception is if a federal tax levy is received before the Order/Notice to Withhold Income for Child Support.

The withholding must remain in effect until the Division of Child Support Services (DCSS) officially notifies the employer, in writing, to adjust or terminate withholding. You may not stop the withholding because the employee has asked you to do so, or because the arrears appear to be paid. An employer may be found liable for any payments not withheld as required.

Employers may charge a processing fee of up to $1.00 per payroll period, or a maximum of $4.00 per month, from the remainder of the employee’s earnings, after the child support has been withheld. Do not deduct the fee from the child support payment.

For multiple employees: If the employer is remitting a list of employees, the transmittal must reconcile to the check amount. If this information in not included, it may delay payments being sent out to the custodial parent.

Note: Employers shall not enter a negative amount for any employee. This will cause the postings to not balance and will delay payments to the custodial parents.

Register to utilize our eEmployer service to receive and respond to future child support notices electronically.

New Hire

Report a New Hire at the Arizona New Hire Reporting Center

You will need your Federal EIN.

Important: If a former employee that child support payments were being withheld from is rehired with 90 days, do not wait to receive a new Order/Notice to Withhold for Child Support – You must honor the existing notice.

Termination

Use the  Notification of Employment Termination form to report a terminated employee.

Print and send Termination Notice to:

Division of Child Support Services P.O. Box 40458, Phoenix, AZ 85067 Or Fax to: (602) 353-5730

Employee Resignation

When an employee who owes child support ends his/her employment, you must notify the Arizona Support Payment Clearinghouse (SDU) in writing and provide them with:

• Employee’s name
• Date of separation
• ATLAS case number
• Last known home address
• Name and address of employee’s new employer, if known.

National Medical Support Notice

The National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) is a standardized federal form that all state IV-D child support agencies must use.

The NMSN Requirements:

• The Child Support Agency

  DCSS will complete its section of the form and send it to the employer with the rest of the National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) packet.

• Employer:
  1. Determine if any of the four categories listed on the Employer Response apply to you or to the employee:
     
     • You do not provide health care coverage for your employees.
     • The employee is not eligible for the health care coverage you provide.
     • The employee has been terminated or has left this employment.
     • The deduction for health care coverage cannot be made because of state or federal withholding limits and/or the state’s priority for withholding. The limitations will be included in the instructions that come with the NMSN or with the instructions you receive from DCSS.

  2. If yes: complete the Employer Response form and return it to the issuing agency (DCSS or an out-of-state IV-D child support agency) within 20 business days.

     If no: forward Part B: Medical Support Notice to your health plan administrator. The plan administrator will notify you when enrollment has been completed.

Notify your payroll office or service to make the appropriate deductions for the employee contribution required under the health plan. At this point, you can determine whether the total deductions are greater than the maximum allowed under the Consumer Credit Protection Act and any applicable state law.

• If the amount of support plus the deduction for health care premiums exceeds the maximum deduction allowed, you must refer to state law where the employee is employed to determine the priority for payment. In Arizona, the deduction of the health insurance premium is the second priority after current support is paid.
• If enrollment cannot be completed until after a waiting period or other contingency you must notify the plan administrator as to when the employee is eligible for enrollment

Questions about National Medical Support Notice?

Employers should contact the DCSS Employer Relations Team

If your employee has questions, have them contact their case manager or call DCSS Customer Service at 602-252-4045 or 800-882-4151.