Employers and income sources have an important role under the Family Responsibility and Support Arrears Enforcement Act, 1996. You are helping the many Ontario families who rely on court-ordered child and spousal support to receive payments. You are also assisting the parent who is paying support to keep their payment records in good standing.
If your organization has been identified as the employer or income source, the FRO will send you a support deduction notice. This is a legal document that is issued by the FRO when there is a court order or domestic contract filed with the court to pay child or spousal support. As the identified employer or income source you are required to deduct support payments from the payor’s earnings and send it in to the FRO. This is normal practice in Ontario. This is not punitive and does not indicate a payment problem or a concern with debt management.
The Family Responsibility Office (FRO) offers several secure, easy and timesaving payment options .
Your Responsibilities
- After receiving a Support Deduction Notice, you have up to 14 days to set up the deductions with your payroll system. On the first pay date after the initial 14 days, you are required to begin deducting support from the employee’s net pay.
In the period between the court order and the time when you start to make support deductions, it is the employee’s responsibility to send support payments to the FRO. If these payments are not made, the support deduction notice will tell you that there are arrears.
- You should notify the FRO within 10 days of any change in the employee’s status with your organization. Please send a letter to the FRO indicating the employee’s name, case number and the reason for the interruption in support deductions. If the employee is receiving short or long-term disability payments, please indicate this and provide the name of your organization’s insurance carrier.
If you organization is enrolled with Electronic Corporate Link to Internet Payment Services (ECLIPS), FRO’s Internet-based remittance service, simply complete the online electronic employment change form to report an interruption in support deductions.