Electronic Income Withholding (e-IWO)

Questions and Answers

The last week in November 2015, the Office of Child Support Services began offering e-IWO as an option for employers, eliminating the need to mail paper Income Withholding Orders to employers. The entire process can now be done electronically. The Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) oversees and sets the program guidelines. Below, are common questions that employers, custodial, and noncustodial parents may have.

What is the Electronic Income Withholding Order or e-IWO process?

e-IWO is an efficient and cost-effective way to electronically exchange income withholding order (IWO) information between state child support agencies and employers.

What are the benefits of e-IWO?

Some of the benefits include:

  • Money gets to the family faster
  • An employer can acknowledge receipt of each IWO and quickly respond to the state when an employee is no longer employed
  • Increased accuracy, and reliability of data
  • Saves time, money, and resources
  • Two different options available for implementation of e-IWO

How does an employer register to use e-IWO?

For information about the e-IWO Project, including how to participate, please contact Samuel Keck from the Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement via email at eiwomail@acf.hhs.gov .

What hardware does an employer need to participate in the e-IWO process?

The e-IWO process requires either a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) server or a File Transfer Protocol server with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Does the e-IWO process send income withholding orders to the employer by email?

No. OCSE places all files on a secure server designated by the employer for information exchange.

Does OCSE charge a fee for an employer to use e-IWO?

No.

Does the employer come to the e-IWO Portal to pick up orders?

No. OCSE sends orders to a secure server designated by the employer.

How quickly will the employer get the orders through e-IWO?

Employers receive their e-IWOs the day after the state child support agency generates them.

When did the Office of Child Support Services in Rhode Island begin e-IWO?

November 23, 2015.

What options are available for employers who want to begin using e-IWO in Rhode Island?

There are two options, one which involves programming, and an option which involves no programming.

Option 1 - System-to-System Interface

If you are a medium to large employer who has Information Technology (IT) resources that can commit to several months of programming this option may be for you.

With this option, IWOs are sent to you in your choice of a flat file format or .XML document. You process the electronic records and make the appropriate update to your payroll system based on the IWO. An image ready .PDF copy of the IWO can be sent along with your file selection. You create an acknowledgment record, indicating to the state whether the IWO received is accepted (i.e., will be processed and payments sent to the state) or rejected (i.e., employee never worked there, duplicate IWO, etc.).

Based on employer experience, implementation of this option can take 3-5 months. There are two options, one which involves programming, and an option which involves no programming.

Option 2 - No Programming Option (NPO)

If you receive a small number of IWOs per month or do not have IT resources to implement the System-to-System option the NPO is for you. Receiving IWOs and acknowledging them is an easy and straightforward process. This option requires no programming and minimal effort (configuration of a server and directories) is required from your company’s IT department. With this option, you receive an image ready .PDF copy of the IWO and a prefilled acknowledgment as either a fillable .PDF or a MS Excel spreadsheet.

Based on employer experience, implementation of this option can take 2-4 weeks.



More details about each option are explained here.

For Additional Information on e-IWO, visit the

Federal Office of Child Support Enforcement e-IWO webpage.

View Other States Using e-IWO