§ 15-29-4 - Limitations on withholding.
SECTION 15-29-4
§ 15-29-4 Limitations on withholding.– (a) The employer may not withhold more under the medical notice than the lesserof:
(1) The amounts allowed by the Federal Consumer CreditProtection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1673(b);
(2) The amounts allowed by the state of the employee'sprincipal place of employment; or
(3) The amount allowed for health care coverage premiums bythe child support order. The federal limit applies to the aggregate disposalweekly earnings (ADWE). ADWE is the net income left after making mandatorydeductions such as state, federal and local taxes, social security taxes, andMedicare taxes.
(b) Priority of Withholding. If withholding isrequired for employee contributions to one or more health care coverage plansunder the medical notice and for a support obligation under a separate notice,and available funds are insufficient for withholding for both cash and medicalsupport contributions, the employer must withhold amounts for purposes of cashsupport and medical support contributions in accordance with the law, if any,of the state of the employee's principal place of employment requiringprioritization between cash and medical support. If the principal place ofemployment is Rhode Island, cash support shall be a priority followed bymedical support contributions.
(c) Duration of withholding. Coverage of a dependentchild shall continue until the child is no longer a dependent. The continuationcoverage provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, of 1974, 29U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., may entitle the child to continuation coverageunder the plan. The employer must continue to withhold employee contributionsand may not discontinue or eliminate health care coverage for the childrenunless the employer is provided satisfactory evidence that:
(1) The court or administrative child support order referredto above is no longer in effect; or
(2) The children are or will be enrolled in comparable healthcare coverage which will take effect no longer than the effective date ofdis-enrollment from the plan; or
(3) The employer eliminates family health care coverage forall of its employees.