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CCH® PAYROLL — 06/05/09

Office of Child Support Enforcement promotes use of e-IWO

“Anything that tribes, states, and territories can do with a paper Income Withholding Order (IWO) they can do electronically,” said Bill Stuart, Principal Software Developer, Lockheed Martin Enterprise Solutions and Services during a presentation entitled, Child Support Invades Cyberspace, given at the 27th Annual APA Congress, in Long Beach, California. Stuart is currently working on the electronic income withholding order (e-IWO) project with the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). The e-IWO project makes it possible for states, tribes, and territories to send IWOs electronically, and for employers to acknowledge them electronically. The key identifier is the Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN). The e-IWO will also handle terminations, lump sums, and bonuses. “OCSE is working hard to get the word out to employers,” said Stuart. “We are continuing to improve the e-IWO form and plans are in the works to have the National Medical Support orders automated, as well.”

The benefits to using e-IWO include the savings of time, money, and resources. Also, the standardized data record will ensure uniform IWO data from all the states. An increase in accuracy and reliability of the data coupled with electronic acknowledgment will enable the states to know quickly whether an IWO will be implemented. While acknowledging that employers may have to make some investment in getting the technology up and running, Stuart offered a pertinent example of the increase in efficiency that can be expected. In the example, based upon a batch of 244 IWOs, Stuart explained that it took an employer 450 minutes to process the IWOs manually and only 30 minutes when doing so electronically using e-IWO.

Portal registration, profile, and testing

The e-IWO portal facilitates transmission of e-IWO’s from states to employers/payroll processors. There is a flat file layout and XML schema that is based on the “Order/Notice” form and on the acknowledgment process/design. Employers are also offered PDFs along with the data file. Portals have been implemented in California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia. States that are expected to implement the portal include, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, as well as the District of Columbia.

Employers, payroll processors, and states must register to use the portal. Registration includes an agreement to send or receive e-IWOs. Employers must also complete a “profile” form indicating contact information, file transfer preferences, server address, etc. Finally, an Automated Testing Module will be necessary, this involves submitting test files and getting a report indicating if there were errors or if the file was OK. Details of the necessary software interface can be found at the OCSE website, http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/
newhire/employer/publication/eiwo/sis/eiwo_sis_qc.htm.

Spreadsheet and fillable PDF alternatives

For employers who do not have the IT resources to program for e-IWO, the OCSE is in the process of devising a spreadsheet alternative, explained Stuart’s co-presenter, Pam Gasper, Manager of Garnishments for Kellogg Brown & Root, LLC. Employers would receive a spreadsheet of all IWOs, all of the columns in the spreadsheet represent a pre-filled Acknowledgment form. The employer will only have to indicate if the IWO was accepted or rejected. The acknowledgment information would then be provided to the states. Employers will also have the ability to send termination and “lump sum” information in other columns in the spreadsheet.

A “fillable PDF” alternative will also reduce the IT resources required to implement e-IWO but require more manual review by the employer’s payroll department. The employer will receive a PDF of the IWO and a pre-filled acknowledgment form. All the employer would have to do is indicate if the IWO was accepted or rejected (check the appropriate box on the form). The acknowledgment information will be provided to the states. Employers will have the ability to send termination and lump sum information on the bottom half of the acknowledgment form.

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