Employers serve as key partners in ensuring financial stability for many children and families across Mississippi.
What Employers Need to Know about Child Support
Employers help the child support program, and stay in compliance with state and federal law, by reporting new hires and withholding income to provide for children.
Reference Guide for Employers & Income Withholders
Please click the button below to access the Division of Child Support Enforcement’s Reference Guide for Employers and Income Withholders. This publication provides detailed information on new hire reporting, income withholding and payments, lump sum reporting, medical support and health insurance, and employer resource links.
Most child support orders require employers to automatically withhold support obligations from an employee’s pay. Employers may also be required to withhold other financial obligations such as child support arrears. These funds must be sent to the State Disbursement Unit.
There are several ways that the employer can transfer funds withheld from employee income to the state:
Payments can be made to the State Disbursement Unit by an Electronic Funds Transfer/Electronic Data Interchange (EFT/EDI). This method can make child support income withholding easier.
At your choosing, child support funds can be electronically remitted via EFT from your bank to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU). All the necessary information (case identifiers, date of withholding, etc.) is sent along with the electronic payments via EDI.
For additional information concerning EFT/EDI, please see A Guide for Employers Electronic Funds Transfer/Electronic Data Interchange (EFT/EDI).
If you have more questions, reach out via email to MSSDUOutreach@informatixinc.com or call (769) 777-6111.
For State Agencies
State agencies who deduct child support payments from employee checks to pay to the Mississippi Department of Human Services can make remittances electronically via electronic funds transfer (EFT).
Please contact the State Disbursement Unit via email at MSSDUOutreach@informatixinc.com or call (769) 777-6111 if you have questions or would like assistance with remittances.
Mississippi iPayOnline is a convenient, secure and easy way for individuals and employers to manage child support payments to the Mississippi Division of Child Support Enforcement. Employers must have a Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) for their company to use this service.
Payments can be made payable to “MDHS/SDU” and mailed directly to the State Disbursement Unit (SDU) at the following address:
MDHS/SDU P. O. Box 23094 Jackson, MS 39225
Fax: 769-777-6132 Phone: 769-77-6111
Each payment remitted must include:
The name of the parent responsible for paying child support;
The parent’s social security number;
The amount withheld; and
The employer name.
You can view and print monthly employee “Income Withholding Bills” through the MDHS Child Billing and Notice System to send in with your payment.
Mandatory Reporting for Employers
All employers (or independent contractors) are required to report basic information about newly-hired personnel within 15 days. A penalty of $25 per case (incident), or up to $500 for collusion between employer and worker, shall be assessed for not reporting as directed by law.
State Directory of New Hires P. O. Box 437 Norwell, MA 02061
Pursuant to Mississippi Code Section 93-11-103(13), employers are required to report lump-sums paid to employees of over $500 to the Department of Human Services if the employer has been served with a withholding order that includes a provision for the payment of arrears (back child support).
Lump sums are defined in Mississippi Code Section 93-11-101(l). The employer must notify the Department of Human Services of its intention to make a lump-sum payment at least 45 days before the planned date of the payment or as soon as the decision is made to make the payment, should that be less than 45 days.
The employer is not allowed to release the lump sum to the employee until 30 days after the intended date of the payment or until authorization is received from the Department of Human Services, whichever is earlier. The Department of Human Services will provide the employer with a Notice of Lien specifying the amount of the lump sum to be withheld for payment of child support arrears (back child support).
Mail: Mississippi State Directory of New Hires Lump Sum Payment Department P.O. Box 437 Norwell, MA 02061
Phone: (800) 241-1330 Ext. 2
Fax: (800) 506-9540
Medical Support
Every child support order must contain a provision for one or both parents to provide medical support for the child(ren).
Medical support is a form of child support that requires one or both parents to provide health care coverage under a parent’s policy or cash medical support.
The parent may be ordered to:
Provide health insurance if available through an employer;
Pay premiums for private health care coverage or reimburse a parent for all or a portion of the costs of health insurance obtained by that parent; or
Pay “cash medical” as an additional amount to cover a portion of ongoing medical bills or as reimbursement for uninsured medical costs.
The child support agency is required to pursue private health care coverage when such coverage is available through a parent’s employer at a reasonable cost.
The National Medical Support Notice (NMSN) is the official form that child support agencies send to employers to ensure that children receive health care coverage when it is available and required as part of a child support order. The federal Office of Child Support Services provides a detailed explanation of the NMSN, including a sample NMSN.
A copy of the NMSN should NEVER be provided to the employee. It contains confidential information about the other parent to which the employee is not entitled.
Enroll the child under the same health benefit plan in which your employee is enrolled. If the employee is offered more than one health plan, the plan chosen by the employee must provide coverage for dependents.
If the plan administrator informs the employer that there must be a waiting period, e.g., 90 days before enrollment can be completed, it is the responsibility of the employer to notify the plan administrator when the employee/parent is eligible for enrollment.
If the waiting period for the employee/parent is more than 90 days from the date of receipt of the National Medical Support Notice (NMSN), or the employee/parent is required to complete a certain number of hours or tasks, the plan administrator completes Response 4 under the Plan Administrator Response section of the NMSN and returns it to the employer and the child support agency.
The federal Office of Child Support Services provides a detailed explanation of the NMSN here.
Quick Contacts
Mississippi Child Support Customer Service Phone: 1-877-882-4916
If you are an employer who is receiving a monthly Child Support Income Withholding Bill for an employee, you may view and print these documents online.
You can download and print your child support income withholding bill on a monthly basis. Bills/notices are only mailed out on an annual basis.
For all other inquiries, please contact the Child Support Call Center at 877-882-4916.
For child support income withholdings, the upper limit on what may be withheld is based on the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA). The Federal withholding limits for child support and alimony are based on the following disposable earnings of the obligor (i.e., the employee):
The Federal CCPA limit is 50 percent of the disposable earnings if the employee lives with and supports a second family, and 60 percent if the employee does not support a second family.
This limit increases to 55 percent and 65 percent respectively if the employee owes arrears that are 12 weeks or more past due.
You must add together the court-ordered current support owed for each order and withhold that amount first. If this amount does NOT exceed the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) limit or appropriate State law, you may withhold additional earnings for any arrears obligation, provided the total amount withheld does not exceed the amount available under the CCPA or appropriate State law.
If you need more information or would like to discuss a specific situation, please contact the Child Support Call Center at 877-882-4916.
You may send one check for each pay period to cover all child support withholdings for that pay period if they are all to be sent to the Mississippi Department of Human Services State Disbursement Unit, provided you itemize the amount withheld from each employee, the date each amount was withheld, and each employee’s social security number.
The employer must still withhold as required by the Order for Withholding until the issuing court enters an order that prevents the withholding from occurring.
If the Order/Notice appears “regular on its face,” you must honor it.
You must provide a copy of the Order/Notice to the employee immediately.
You must begin income withholding and send the payments to the address cited in the Withholding Order/Notice.
You must continue to honor the Withholding Order/Notice until official notification is received from the child support enforcement agency/court to stop or modify the withholding.
If you comply with these basic requirements, you will not be subject to civil liability to an individual or agency with regard to your withholding of child support from the employee’s income.
In cases where an employer willfully fails to withhold pursuant to a valid income withholding order a penalty of up to $500.00 can be assessed. A penalty of up to $1,000.00 can be assessed if the failure to comply is the result of collusion between the employer and employee. In cases in which an employer discharges, disciplines, refuses to hire or otherwise penalizes an employee, as a result of a withholding order having been issued to said employer, a penalty of up to $50.00 can be assessed.
You will receive notice whenever an order for withholding is terminated or suspended. An order for income withholding remains in effect as long as the underlying order for support remains in effect.
Yes. By law, medical insurance coverage available to the parent-employee cannot be denied to a child even though:
The child was born out of wedlock and paternity has been established
The child is not claimed as a dependent on the parent’s income tax return
The child does not live with the parent
The child does not live in your insurer’s service area
Enroll the child under the same health benefit plan in which your employee is enrolled. If the employee is offered more than one health plan, the plan chosen by the employee must provide coverage for dependents.
