Washington

Income Withholding/Termination Notice Postcard (Wenatchee)

Description/Goal

A simple postcard which employers can use to notify the Child Support Division that an employee has left the company had such good results in Wenatchee, Washington that it has been adopted statewide. Use of the card saves child support staff time, improves employer relations, and speeds up withholding by the new employer. (A facsimile of the card is found on page WA 7.)

The postcard was the brainchild of Debbie Thompson of American Silicon Technologies, a Wenatchee employer. At an employer workshop Thompson suggested that a simple, self-addressed postcard to send back to the child support agency when employees left would make employers' lives easier. In addition, she told Lyn Rindy of the Wenatchee Division of Child Support Staff, “Many times I actually know where they have gone. Nobody is asking me if I know where they went, only whether they have left here.”

On-the ball Child Support Division staff recognized a good idea when they heard it. They quickly realized the potential usefulness of the card - including a space for information about the new employer.

The card idea was a great outgrowth of lots of work on employer relations in Wenatchee. Employers are regularly invited to employer workshops with the Child Support Division there - creating an ongoing dialogue in which such suggestions can be made. Ongoing discussions were held with the employer community about the postcard. Would it be just one more form to fill out, or would it make life easier? The employers they talked with unanimously thought it would help.

With that encouragement, the card was developed and sent to state headquarters for approval. It was tested in a pilot project in Wenatchee from August of 1997 through February 1998. The card was sent out with all withholding orders generated in the Wenatchee office during that time.

The pilot was a success. Employers quickly adapted to using the card. Interestingly, they used the cards not only to notify the Division of Child Support when an employee left the company, but also to notify the Division if the obligor on a withholding order did not work there when an order was served initially. Apparently the card is easier for employers to use than the standard Answer to Notice form provided with the withholding order. The state office approved this use of the card, also.

“Most employers say, `Please send me a supply of these.' When anyone leaves they send the card in - even for people who were already there and having wages withheld before the cards first came out,” says Lyn Rindy, a supervisor in the Wenatchee office.

Results

During the pilot project (August 1997 - February 1998) 625 postcards were sent back by employers. About a third reported the departure of an employee who was subject to withholding. One in three of these provided either information on a new employer or a new address. The rest were sent back in lieu of the Answer to Notice to an original wage withholding order. The employer community was enthusiastic. The postcard has been adopted for statewide use.

Wenatchee staff identified three key positive results of the Employment Termination Notice postcards:

• Time savings for both employers and Division staff. Every postcard that comes back reporting a termination saves a phone call between the employer and the department. Without the card, employers would have had to call the office or write a letter from scratch - after looking up the address or phone number for the field office. The postage paid, pre-addressed card saves the employer both time and money and encourages more consistent notification to the Division of Child Support.
• Less child support is lost when noncustodial parents change jobs. When an employer reporting a terminated employee provides information on the new employer, it often is possible to serve a withholding order on the new employer right away. This avoids missed child support payments. The postcard delivers new employer information 20 to 30 days faster than new hire reporting.
• Better public relations. Prior to the postcard, many employers sent a note about the employee's termination along with their last payment. However, because these notes went to the payment processing unit in the state office there was a delay in the information reaching field offices. Field office Support Enforcement Officers would call employers to track missing payments only to hear that notice had been mailed a month earlier. This wasted time, annoyed employers, and adversely affected relationships with the employer community. The pre-addressed postcard mailed directly to the field offices solves the problem.

Location

The Employment Termination Notice postcard was developed in Wenatchee, WA, a rural area. It has since been adopted statewide in Washington.

Funding

The cost of postcard use is minimal - printing and return postage (with a bulk rate permit) - and is overwhelmingly offset by savings on staff time. Costs are paid as part of regular IV-D administrative costs.

Replication Advice

The postcard has gone through a few changes over time. Early versions included a space for the employee's social security number. Employers rightly objected to sending this identifying information about their former employees through the mail on a postcard. Now the case number serves as an identifier.

The original version of the card included a blank for the employer name and address as a return address on the front of the postcard. Many employers did not notice they needed to fill this in and the card would come back with no employer identified. The result: uncertainty about which job had been left when a parent had multiple employers. Now there is space for this information on the back of the card.

A copy of the card is available with this Good Idea summary.