You asked if employers are penalized for failing to transmit child support wage withholdings within the period specified by law.

By law, employers must forward child support wage withholdings to the person or entity designated on the court's withholding order, usually the Department of Social Services' Bureau of Child Support Enforcement (BCSE). The law requires the employer to send the funds within seven business days after the payroll date. BCSE's David Mulligan indicates that the bureau reports egregious cases of employer noncompliance to the attorney general's (AG) office, which may seek to hold the employer in contempt of court (CGS § 52-362(f)). Typically, the first contempt finding results in a court order directing the employer to transmit the withheld wages on time. Further contempt citations may result in tougher sanctions, including financial penalties, reports Robert Nagy of the AG's office.

No court cases are pending. Mulligan believes that this may be due to the effectiveness of SMI, the new contractor BCSE uses for child support collections. He reports that SMI follows up regularly with letters and phone calls when withholdings are more than 10 days past due.

SP: ro