Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 2.djvu/149

 PUBLIC LAW 98-378—AUG. 16, 1984

98 STAT. 1309

"(5) Such withholding must be administered by a public agency designated by the State, and the amounts withheld must be expeditiously distributed by the State or such agency in accordance with section 457 under procedures (specified by the 42 USC 657. State) adequate to document payments of support and to track and monitor such payments, except that the State may establish or permit the establishment of alternative procedures for the collection and distribution of such amounts (under the supervision of such public agency) otherwise than through such public agency so long as the entity making such collection and distribution is publicly accountable for its actions taken in carrying out such procedures, and so long as such procedures will assure prompt distribution, provide for the keeping of adequate records to document payments of support, and permit the tracking and monitoring of such payments. "(6)(A)(i) The employer of any absent parent to whom paragraph (1) applies, upon being given notice as described in clause (ii), must be required to withhold from such absent parent's wages the amount specified by such notice (which may include a fee, established by the State, to be paid to the employer unless waived by such employer) and pay such amount (after deducting and retaining any portion thereof which represents the fee so established) to the appropriate agency (or other entity authorized to collect the amounts withheld under the alternative procedures described in paragraph (5)) for distribution in accordance with section 457. "(ii) The notice given to the employer shall contain only such information as may be necessary for the employer to comply with the withholding order. "(B) Methods must be established by the State to simplify the withholding process for employers to the greatest extent possible, including permitting any employer to combine all withheld amounts into a single payment to each appropriate agency or entity (with the portion thereof which is attributable to each individual employee being separately designated). "(C) The employer must be held liable to the State for any amount which such employer fails to withhold from wages due an employee following receipt by such employer of proper notice under subparagraph (A), but such employer shall not be required to vary the normal pay and disbursement cycles in order to comply with this paragraph. "(D) Provision must be made for the imposition of a fine against any employer who discharges from employment, refuses to employ, or takes disciplinary action against any absent parent subject to wage withholding required by this subsection because of the existence of such withholding and the obligations or additional obligations which it imposes upon the employer. "(7) Support collection under this subsection must be given priority over any other legal process under State law against the same wages. "(8) The State may take such actions as may be necessary to extend its system of withholding under this subsection so that such system will include withholding from forms of income other than wages, in order to assure that child support owed by absent parents in the State will be collected without regard to the types of such absent parents' income or the nature of their income-producing activities.

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