Wage Garnishment

Wage garnishment is when an employer withholds the earnings from an employee's paycheck prior to you receiving it, as a result of a debt. The money taken out goes straight to the party in which it is owed to. Garnishment is usually established by a judgment through the court system. If you feel your wages are being garnished for an unfair reason, a bankruptcy lawyer should be contacted right away.

The Title III, Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) prohibits employers from discharging an employee because his or her earnings have been subject to garnishment for any one debt, regardless of the number of levies made or proceedings brought to collect it. The CCPA does not, however, protect an employee from discharge if the employee's earnings have been subject to garnishment for a second or subsequent debt.

There is a limit to the amount of earnings that may be garnished in any workweek or pay period to the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings are greater than 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. ("Disposable earnings" is the amount of earnings left after legally required deductions have been made.) This limit applies regardless of how many garnishment orders an employer receives. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009.

If a state wage garnishment law differs from Title III, Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA) the employer must observe the law resulting in the smaller garnishment, or prohibiting the discharge of an employee because his or her earnings have been subject to garnishment for more than one debt.

Title III, Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)

Consumer Credit Protection Act