Child Support is a periodic payment mandated by a state authority for a parent to financially support a child. Employers may receive a detailed garnishment order to deduct an amount of the parent's wages.
Eddy supports the ability for employers to add child support garnishments, and also supports the remittance of the payment for these deductions to their respective state agencies.
You can configure any child support garnishment to have payments remitted by Eddy, regardless of the garnishment’s state agency. Eddy supports remittance in all 50 states plus Washington D.C. Eddy does not support child support garnishments to reservation lands.
Where to add a Child Support Garnishment in Eddy
To add a Child Support Garnishment in Eddy, first go to Admin Settings. Then click the Payroll tab, and within that tab click the link for Child support.
On this page you can add a child support garnishment and also see any existing garnishments that have been added previously.
Complete the Child Support Garnishment form
This form captures all the information you need to set up a child support garnishment in Eddy. The table below outlines all the fields:
| Field | Notes |
| Employee | Here you select which employee the child support garnishment applies to. |
| External ID | This is the case number listed on the order, which is a unique identifier for the garnishment. |
| Agency | The state abbreviation of the collection agency that submitted this order. |
| FIPS code | The FIPS code is an optional 5 or 7 digit number used to identify the correct agency within the state. This number should be provided if is included on the order. |
| Issue Date | The date the collections agency issued the order. |
| Effective Start Date | The date when Eddy will begin withholding the indicated amount in each payroll. |
| Effective End Date | The date when Eddy will stop withholding the indicated amount in each payroll. |
| Amount | This is the per pay period amount to deduct. A garnishment order will include how much an employee's wages should be garnished per pay period, broken out by how much is due depending on the pay cycle. Choose the amount that corresponds to the payroll schedule. |
| Max percent | The maximum amount to garnish listed on the order. If the per pay period amount exceeds the max percent of employee disposable income, Eddy will deduct up to the max percent. |
The image below shows these fields in the Eddy UI. Once you submit this form the Child Support Garnishment will be saved. In the next payroll created after the effective date Eddy will withhold the indicated amount.
How Many Child Support Garnishments Can Be active?
An employee may have multiple active child support orders at once. If deducting for all orders in full would exceed the allowable amount to garnish, we will partially apply all deductions according to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) rules.
Child support garnishment limits
Most child support orders will specify a flat dollar amount to be withheld each pay cycle. The following maximums also apply.
Maximum amount for child support
- 50% of the employee’s “disposable earnings” if the employee is supporting another spouse and/or children
- 55% of the employee’s “disposable earnings” if the employee is supporting another spouse and/or children (AND 12 weeks late in payment or in arrears)
- 60% of the employee’s “disposable earnings” if the employee is not supporting another spouse and/or children
- 65% of the employee’s “disposable earnings” if the employee is not supporting another spouse and/or children (AND 12 weeks late in payment or in arrears)