Child Support Information
Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU)
New Hire Reporting
Quarterly Wage Reporting
Income Withholding for Employees
Important
Income Withholding Notice (IWN) Information for Employers
Possible
small influx of IWNs from 6/15/07 through 6/29/07
Medical Support
Employer Payments to MiSDU
Employer Advisory Committee
Frequently
Asked Questions
Employer Help Line
Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU)
Federal law mandates that each state create a centralized state disbursement
unit to collect and distribute child support payments (42 USC 654b). Michigan
law (MCL 400.236) was enacted to provide authority for the Michigan State Disbursement
Unit (MiSDU) to fulfill this federal requirement.
The MiSDU provides the single physical location where all support payments
are received and disbursed in Michigan. The MiSDU processes over $1.6 billion
annually and distributes over 90% of the money received within 24 hours. The
rest is held as required by law or to identify the recipient's address.
Customer Service to employers is a priority for the MiSDU. A toll-free employer
assistance line (1-800-817-0805) is available to help employers of all sizes
communicate with the MiSDU and take advantage of electronic payments. An informational
website is also available at www.misdu.com.
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New Hire Reporting
Under federal law (42 USC 653a) employers are required to report certain information
on their newly hired or rehired employees to a designated state agency.
In Michigan, that agency is the Department of Human Services Office of Child
Support (OCS). New hires reported by employers are matched against child support
records in the State to help locate parents, establish orders, or enforce existing
orders.
Employers who wish to use automated new hire reporting or who have questions
regarding new hire reporting should contact the Department of Treasury project
technical staff at (800) 524-9846 or consult the Treasury New Hire Web site
at: www.mi-newhire.com
which provides general information, FAQs, reporting documents, and allows online
reporting capability.
New hire reporting benefits employers by reducing and preventing fraudulent
unemployment and workers' compensation payments. Timely receipt of New Hire
data allows each state to cross-match this data against its active workers'
compensation and unemployment insurance claimant files-either stopping payments
or recovering erroneous payments. States have saved million of dollars of erroneous
unemployment insurance payments because of these cross matches.
Federal New Hire Reporting information:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/employer/private/
newhire.htm
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Quarterly Wage Reporting
The Michigan Employment Security Act (MCL 421.13) requires that each employer
must file a quarterly wage report with the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.
The quarterly wage report includes, for each of the employer's employees, the
employee's name, social security number, gross wages paid during each quarter,
and the name, address, and federal and State employer identification number
of the individual's employer.
For additional information on quarterly wage reporting or to file electronic
wage reporting, go to the Department of Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) unemployment
insurance agency web site http://www.michigan.gov/uia/0,1607,7-118--77970--,00.html.
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Income Withholding for Employees
In Michigan, approximately 74% of support payments are made through income
withholding. All new and modified child support orders are required to include
a provision for income withholding (unless both parents and the courts agree
on other payment methods). Under income withholding, the support payment is
deducted from the noncustodial parent's paycheck the same as taxes, insurance
premiums, and other items. The employer sends the payment directly to the Michigan
State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU).
The Michigan Child Support Enforcement System (MiCSES) will automatically
generate an income withholding order when a new employer is identified through
New Hire Reporting.
The Friend of the Court (FOC) can also manually initiate an income withholding
order. Employers must honor income withholding orders (42 USC 666), (MCL 552.604
and MCL 552.1501). Both current and past due support (arrearages) can be collected
through an income withholding order.
When an income withholding order takes effect, or is modified by the court
or administratively by the Friend of the Court, an income withholding notice
(IWN) is sent to an employer. An employer must honor it and:
- Provide a copy to the employee immediately.
- Begin income withholding and send the payments to the Michigan Statewide
Disbursement Unit (MiSDU).
- Provide the information required by the notice to the MiSDU with the payment.
- Continue to honor the withholding notice until the employer receives notification
from the child support program/court to stop or make a change to the withholding.
Income withholding for child support and medical support has priority over all
other legal processes against income except for federal tax liens that were served
before the child support order was established.
Employee bonus payments may qualify for child support withholding. The request
for withholding from bonuses will come directly from the Michigan Office of
Child Support to employers with directions on the process to be used.
The amount withheld for an income withholding order cannot exceed the amount
allowed under the Consumer
Credit Protection Act. This can be as high as 65% if certain arrearage and
number of children criteria are met, generally it is 50% for support collection.
Federal Income Withholding information:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/employer/private/
income_withholding.htm
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Note:
Important Income Withholding Notice (IWN) Information for Employers
Medical Support
Medical support is a form of child support often provided as health care insurance
under a parent's policy together with cash payments for uninsured expenses.
Along with an income withholding order, employers may receive a national
medical support notice, which provides direction to the employer on how
medical support must be handled. Employers and their insurance carriers are
required to honor medical support orders.
Employers and health insurance providers must follow the following criteria
in responding to the National Medical Support Notice:
- The dependents must have access to open enrollment.
- The dependents may not be denied coverage on the grounds that the parents
were never married, the dependent lacks the employee's last name, the dependent
is not claimed on the employee's federal income tax return, or the dependent
does not reside with the employee or in the insurer's service area.
- The employee may not eliminate coverage of the dependent unless the employee
provides written proof that the order is no longer in effect or the dependent
will be enrolled in a comparable health insurance plan.
Federal Medical Support information:
http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/newhire/employer/private/
medical_support.htm
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Employer Payments to MiSDU
Employers who withhold support payments from employees' wages must send those
withheld support payments to the Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU).
The following information must be provided for each withholding order payment:
- Employer FEIN (Format: 99-9999999)
- Employee Name
- Employee SSN (Format: 999-99-9999)
- Michigan Docket Number (Format: 9999-999999-AA), where the first four digits
represent the year the order was issued, the next six digits represent the
unique order number, and the last two characters represent the type of order.
- FIPS Code (Format: 26999) for the county that issued the income withholding
order. The prefix 26 references Michigan. See the list to the left for applicable
FIPS codes by county name.
- Amount Withheld
- Any additional identification number you may be using now
Failure to provide all of the necessary identifying information could result
in the payment being returned or marked as unidentified.
Payments withheld from employers can be sent to the MiSDU electronically or
by check.
- Checks are mailed to:
- MiSDU
- P.O. Box 30350
- Lansing, Mi 48909
Any employer paying by check is encouraged to give MiSDU the opportunity to demonstrate
how electronic payments can reduce costs and staff time. Please call 1-800-817-0805
for assistance.
Payments can be sent electronically in the following ways:
- Electronically from the employer's bank account to the MiSDU bank account.
Contact 1-800-817-0805 for assistance in setting this up.
- Over the web. Go to the MiSDU payments page at https://www.misdu.com/Secure/Default.aspx?tabid=41
to submit payments.
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Employer Advisory Committee
The Michigan State Disbursement Unit (MiSDU) convenes an Employer Advisory
Committee twice a year. This committee focuses on child support issues of importance
to the employer community. The MiSDU welcomes employer participation on the
committee. Please call 1-800-817-0805 to join or with any questions.
Frequently
Asked Questions
Employer Help Line - (800) 817-0805
Federal
Information for Employers
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