Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

            A. The legislature finds that the ultimate success of child support establishment and enforcement actions depends on the accuracy of information regarding the obligor’s current employment and that a significant number of obligors who are delinquent in their child support obligations change jobs frequently or work in seasonal or cyclical industries. The legislature further finds that enforcing child support orders through wage withholdings or other means against these obligors is difficult, as employment often terminates before the notice to withhold income reaches the employer. In these cases, information presently obtained from quarterly cross-matches or other sources is outdated and puts the state’s Title IV-D programs several paces behind the obligor. The legislature further finds that reducing the gap between hiring and withholding for support enforcement can improve the Title IV-D programs’ effectiveness and responsiveness.

            B. As used in this Section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

            (1) “Employee” means an individual who is an employee within the meaning of Chapter 24 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. “Employee” does not include an employee of a federal or state agency performing intelligence or counterintelligence functions, if the head of such agency has determined the reporting pursuant to this Section with respect to the employee could endanger the safety of the employee or compromise an ongoing investigation or intelligence mission.

            (2) “Employer” has the meaning given such term in Section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and any labor organization and any governmental entity except for any department, agency, or instrumentality of the United States.

            (3) “Labor organization” has the meaning given such term in Section 2(5) of the National Labor Relations Act, and includes any entity which may be known as a “hiring hall” which is used by the organization and an employer to carry out requirements described in Section 8(f)(3) of that Act of an agreement between the organization and the employer.

            (4) “Wage and claim information” has the meaning given such term under Section 303(h) of the Social Security Act.

            C. The Department of Children and Family Services shall establish an automated directory known as the “state directory of new hires”.

            D.(1) An employer shall report to the Department of Children and Family Services, office of children and family services, child support enforcement section any of the following:

            (a) The hiring of any person to whom the employer anticipates paying earnings.

            (b) The rehiring or return to work of any employee who was laid off, furloughed, separated, granted a leave without pay, or terminated from employment.

            (2) The Department of Children and Family Services shall secure either electronically or by hard copy all of the following:

            (a) Wages and unemployment compensation information which is required to be submitted to the secretary of the United States Department of Labor for entry into the state directory of new hires.

            (b) Any information reported to the Department of Revenue in accordance with La. Rev. Stat. 47:114.1.

            E.(1) An employer shall submit the report required in Paragraph D(1) of this Section no later than twenty days after the hiring or rehiring of the employee.

            (2)(a) If an employer transmits a report magnetically or electronically, two monthly transmissions shall be made not less than twelve days nor more than sixteen days apart.

            (b) If an employer has employees who are employed in two or more states and transmits a report magnetically or electronically, the employer may comply with this Section by designating one of the states to which he shall report. The employer shall notify the Department of Children and Family Services in writing as to which state he will report.

            (3) The report shall contain all of the following:

            (a) The employee’s name, address, social security number, and occupation, and the date services for remuneration were first performed by the employee.

            (b) The employer’s name, address, and employer identification number assigned under Section 6109 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

            (4) Each report required by this Section shall be made on a W-4 form, or, at the option of the employer, on an equivalent form. The report may be transmitted by first class mail, magnetically, or electronically.

            F.(1) An employer who fails to report as required under this Section may be fined a civil penalty which shall not exceed twenty-five dollars.

            (2) If the failure to report is the result of a conspiracy, as determined under state law, between the employer and the employee to withhold the required report or to supply a false or incomplete report the employer may be fined a civil penalty which shall not exceed five hundred dollars.

            G.(1) The Department of Children and Family Services shall enter the information into the data base for the state directory of new hires no later than five days after receipt from an employer.

            (2) The Department of Children and Family Services shall provide the data entered into the state directory of new hires to the national directory of new hires no later than three business days after the data entry.

            (3) “Business day”, for purposes of this Subsection, means a day on which state offices are open for regular business.

            H.(1) The state directory of new hires shall conduct an automated comparison of the social security numbers reported by employers pursuant to this Section and the social security numbers appearing in the records of the state case registry.

            (2) If a match is revealed with respect to the social security numbers in the state directory of new hires and is in the state case registry, the state directory of new hires shall provide the child support enforcement section with the employee’s name, address, and social security number, and the employer’s name, address, and employer’s identification number.

            I. The state directory of new hires shall furnish extracts of the reports concerning the wages and unemployment compensation paid to individuals to the national directory of new hires by such dates, in such format, and containing such information as the secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services shall specify in regulations.

            J.(1) The Department of Children and Family Services shall use information received pursuant to this Section to locate individuals for purposes of establishing paternity and for establishing, modifying, and enforcing child support obligations. The Department of Children and Family Services may disclose the information received pursuant to this Section to any agent of the Department of Children and Family Services that is under contract to carry out such purposes.

            (2) The Department of Children and Family Services shall provide access to information received pursuant to this Section for purposes of verifying eligibility for the program specified in Section 1137(b) of the Social Security Act.

            (3) The Department of Children and Family Services shall provide access to the information received pursuant to this Section to the Louisiana Workforce Commission for the purposes of administering the employment security and workers’ compensation programs.

            Acts 1997, No. 97, §1, eff. Oct. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, No. 453, §1, eff. June 18, 1999; Acts 2008, No. 743, §7, eff. July 1, 2008; Acts 2012, No. 255, §7; Acts 2012, No. 444, §1; Acts 2021, No. 285, §1, eff. July 1, 2021.