1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to family law; child support; classifying 
  1.3             data on certain obligors; reducing the time period for 
  1.4             remitting amounts withheld to the public authority; 
  1.5             requiring a report on independent contractors; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 171.12, by 
  1.7             adding a subdivision; and 518.611, subdivision 4. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 171.12, is 
  1.10  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 9.  [SUSPENSION FOR CHILD SUPPORT 
  1.12  ARREARS.] Notwithstanding section 13.03, subdivision 4, 
  1.13  paragraph (c), data on a driver's license suspension under 
  1.14  section 518.551, subdivision 13, received by the department of 
  1.15  public safety from the department of human services are public 
  1.16  data on the subject of the driver's license suspension. 
  1.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 518.611, 
  1.18  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.19     Subd. 4.  [EFFECT OF ORDER.] (a) Notwithstanding any law to 
  1.20  the contrary, the order is binding on the employer, trustee, 
  1.21  payor of the funds, or financial institution when service under 
  1.22  subdivision 2 has been made.  Withholding must begin no later 
  1.23  than the first pay period that occurs after 14 days following 
  1.24  the date of the notice.  In the case of a financial institution, 
  1.25  preauthorized transfers must occur in accordance with a 
  1.26  court-ordered payment schedule.  An employer, payor of funds, or 
  2.1   financial institution in this state is required to withhold 
  2.2   income according to court orders for withholding issued by other 
  2.3   states or territories.  The payor shall withhold from the income 
  2.4   payable to the obligor the amount specified in the order and 
  2.5   amounts required under subdivision 2 and section 518.613 and 
  2.6   shall remit, within ten seven days of the date the obligor is 
  2.7   paid the remainder of the income, the amounts withheld to the 
  2.8   public authority.  The payor shall identify on the remittance 
  2.9   information the date the obligor is paid the remainder of the 
  2.10  income.  The obligor is considered to have paid the amount 
  2.11  withheld as of the date the obligor received the remainder of 
  2.12  the income.  The financial institution shall execute 
  2.13  preauthorized transfers from the deposit accounts of the obligor 
  2.14  in the amount specified in the order and amounts required under 
  2.15  subdivision 2 as directed by the public authority responsible 
  2.16  for child support enforcement.  
  2.17     (b) Employers may combine all amounts withheld from one pay 
  2.18  period into one payment to each public authority, but shall 
  2.19  separately identify each obligor making payment.  Amounts 
  2.20  received by the public authority which are in excess of public 
  2.21  assistance expended for the party or for a child shall be 
  2.22  remitted to the party.  
  2.23     (c) An employer shall not discharge, or refuse to hire, or 
  2.24  otherwise discipline an employee as a result of a wage or salary 
  2.25  withholding authorized by this section.  The employer or other 
  2.26  payor of funds shall be liable to the obligee for any amounts 
  2.27  required to be withheld.  A financial institution is liable to 
  2.28  the obligee if funds in any of the obligor's deposit accounts 
  2.29  identified in the court order equal the amount stated in the 
  2.30  preauthorization agreement but are not transferred by the 
  2.31  financial institution in accordance with the agreement.  An 
  2.32  employer or other payor of funds that fails to withhold or 
  2.33  transfer funds in accordance with this section is also liable to 
  2.34  the obligee for interest on the funds at the rate applicable to 
  2.35  judgments under section 549.09, computed from the date the funds 
  2.36  were required to be withheld or transferred.  An employer or 
  3.1   other payor of funds is liable for reasonable attorney fees of 
  3.2   the obligee or public authority incurred in enforcing the 
  3.3   liability under this paragraph.  An employer or other payor of 
  3.4   funds that has failed to comply with the requirements of this 
  3.5   section is subject to contempt sanctions under section 518.615.  
  3.6   If an employer violates this subdivision, a court may award the 
  3.7   employee twice the wages lost as a result of this violation.  If 
  3.8   a court finds the employer violates this subdivision, the court 
  3.9   shall impose a civil fine of not less than $500.  
  3.10     Sec. 3.  [INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS.] 
  3.11     The department of human services shall report to the chairs 
  3.12  of the judiciary committees in the house of representatives and 
  3.13  the senate by February 1, 1998, on the state's experience 
  3.14  including independent contractors for the state in the work 
  3.15  reporting system and shall make recommendations whether, and if 
  3.16  so, how, to extend the reporting practice to independent 
  3.17  contractors in the private sector.