Employer Income Withholding

Employers play a critical role in the child support process. As part of our enforcement actions, the Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) sends the employer an Income Withholding Order (IWO) requiring the employer to withhold child support from an employee’s paycheck. LCSAs may also send the employer the National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) which requires them to enroll the employee’s child in the employer’s health insurance plan.

Employers have child support responsibilities in seven (7) broad areas:

  • Report employee new hires and rehires
  • Comply with requests for verification of employment
  • Comply with National Medical Support Notice requirements
  • Withhold income (garnishments)
  • Submit mandated payments (including lump sum and severance pay)
  • Notify LCSA before issuing lump sums
  • Report terminated employees with income withholding orders from LCSA

When and where is this service offered?

This service is available throughout the year during regular business hours except during scheduled holidays.

FAQS

An IWO, or Order/Notice to Withhold Income for Child Support (FL-195), also called the Income Withholding for Support, is an order served on employers, which requires them to garnish or withhold an employee’s wages for payment of child support. This form may also be referred to as: wage assignment, garnishment order, and income withholding order. You may be served by a local child support agency (LCSA), private party, or another state’s child support agency.

The following earnings can be used for child support: 
  • Wages, salary, tips, bonuses, vacation pay, retirement pay, regular overtime, and commissions
  • Payments due for services of independent contractors, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, residuals, patent rights, or mineral or other natural resource rights
  • Payments or credits due or becoming due as a result of written or oral contracts for services or sales whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise
  • Payments due for workers’ compensation temporary disability benefits
  • Any other payments or credits due or becoming due, regardless of source
Following the terms of an Order/Notice is the law. Employers who fail to comply with an income withholding order for support are liable for the accumulated amount which should have been withheld, plus interest. Willful failure by an employer to comply with an assignment order is punishable as contempt. In addition, an employer who fires, disciplines, or refuses to hire an employee based upon income withholding may be assessed additional civil penalties.

Yes. Each LCSA has the legal authority to locate parents and their financial assets. State and Federal laws require employers to provide this information promptly and as fully as possible. Employees of these agencies are restricted by law from using this information for anything other than the establishment or collection of child support.

Yes. Receipt of payments can be verified by calling: 1-866-901-3212.

You will be notified when it is appropriate to stop garnishing the employee’s wages.
This could be a new or amended Order/Notice recently obtained by the child support agency. Check the court order number and verify that the court order is the same as the previous Order/Notice. Ensure that the number and identity of the children, and the amounts ordered, have not changed from the previous Order/Notice.
Yes.  You must comply with income withholding orders from other States. Instructions on the income withholding order will specify where to mail the payment. Please do not send payments ordered by other states to the California State Disbursement Unit.
No. Direct the employee to contact the issuing LCSA to discuss this request. You must continue to comply with the Order/Notice.
A Non-IV-D case (also known as a private case) is a case that is not filed with a local child support agency (LCSA), but has been prepared and filed by a private attorney, paralegal, or participant on the case. Cases where child support is established and maintained privately, such as following a divorce. Some Non IV-D cases become IV-D cases when they are referred to the Department of Child Support Services in an attempt to collect outstanding, unpaid child support.

Read it carefully and follow its instructions. You may need to send a copy to the California State Disbursement Unit, depending on who issued the IWO. You do not need to send a copy, if your IWO came from any of the following: the California Department of Child Support Services, a county child support office in California, also called a Local Child Support Agency (LCSA) , or another state’s child support agency. If, however, your IWO was issued by an attorney or other private party, then you must send a copy to the address below:

  • CA State Disbursement Unit (SDU)
    PO Box 980218
    West Sacramento, CA 95798-0218
  • OR by fax, Attention:  Outreach at 1-888-587-5471
  • OR by e-mail to:  [email protected]

Note:  You do not need to submit a copy of the order if it was issued by an LCSA or another state’s child support agency.  Please do not send payments to this address.

Yes. The Income Withholding for Support is a federally required form and is used in all support cases in all states. The signature of a judicial officer is not required when the order is sent by a Local Child Support Agency (LCSA), which is a county or regional child support office.  If the order is not from an LCSA, you should still consider it valid and send a copy to the California State Disbursement Unit (SDU). The SDU will send you a notification with a Child Support Enforcement case number.

Note:  An IWO is commonly issued whenever a child support case is established and the parent with higher earnings or less custody is employed. It is rare for a parent who is employed to be allowed to pay through other means. Employers shall not use an Income Withholding for Support as grounds for refusing to hire a person or for taking disciplinary action against an employee.  Employers could face civil penalties if they do so.

Yes. The Order/Notice has been a Federally required form since January 1, 2000 and issued in all support cases in all states. The signature of a judicial officer is not required when the Order/Notice is sent by an LCSA. The ongoing support obligation is based on the most recent court order. An arrears payment on an Order/Notice may be based on a court order, but the LCSA also has the authority to administratively set an arrears payment.
The FL-195 Income Withholding for Support requires you, the employer, to: 
  1. Document the date you received the Order/Notice.
  2. Give a copy of the Order/Notice and the blank Request for Hearing form to the employee within ten (10) days of receipt. Note: Order/Notices to Withhold Income for Child Support generated by an LCSA do not have to be signed by a judicial officer or filed at Superior Court to be valid orders.
  3. Follow the terms of the order. Begin to withhold money from the employee’s net disposable earnings no later than ten (10) days after receipt. This usually means you begin deductions at the next pay period after receipt.
  4. Send payments to the State Disbursement Unit within seven working days of the employee’s pay date. Do not wait until the end of the month to send the support. (The withholding limit varies from state to state. California employers may not withhold more than 50% of the employee’s net disposable income unless a higher percentage is expressly ordered by the court.)
When sending payments, provide the following:
  • Employee’s Child support case number
  • Dates money was withheld. The date the money was withheld is the date the employee was paid, i.e., the pay date.
  • Employee’s Social Security number
  • Employee’s name

You, the employer, will receive the following forms:

  • A cover letter with instructions on how to implement wage withholding
  • Request for Hearing Regarding Wage and Earnings Assignment and Information sheet
  • A letter for employers to inform the LCSA if the employee leaves this employment. (Notify the issuing LCSA no later than the date of the next payment and provide the employee’s social security number, last known address, and, if known, the name and address of the new employer.)
  • National Medical Support Notice (if applicable)
  • Health Insurance Information form.

Note: Employers MAY NOT use an Order/Notice as grounds for refusing to hire a person or for taking disciplinary action against an employee. Employers could face civil penalties if they do so.

Call the California Department of Child Support Services at 1-866-901-3212 to find out if there is an error in the number or name, or if this could be a case of mistaken identity.

Most verification requests pertain to location, financial resources, and/or the availability of employment-related health insurance.
California’s automated child support system issues two (2) different types of noncompliance letters. The first noncompliance letter is issued on a case forty-five (45) days after a wage assignment is sent and NO payments have been received. The second noncompliance letter issues 45 days after ongoing wage assignment payments stop. If you receive a noncompliance letter and you are remitting payments, contact the LCSA. This could be a case of a misapplied payment or an error in the automated system.

This document provides the necessary information that enables the California State Disbursement Unit (SDU) to open a case and ensure payments are processed timely and accurately. All states are under a Federal mandate to create a single, Statewide case registry of all child support orders and to centralize payment processing. This was established by the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). The SDU is that single entity for child support cases in California.

The information is requested for a number of reasons:

  • Locating parents to serve them with child support actions
  • Requesting wage information to properly determine a child support amount
  • Verifying employment to serve a wage withholding notice
  • Verifying the availability of medical support (includes health care coverage)
  • Delivering other official correspondence

No. You only need to send a copy when there is a change or you receive a new Income Withholding for Support (FL-195) from an attorney or other private party.