Wage Garnishments Key Terms

Familiarize yourself with wage garnishments key terms

Wage garnishments are used to receive payment for debt, taxes or court-ordered fees. The most common wage garnishment is child support. Most payroll personnel have to deal with some form of wage garnishment. There are different types of wage garnishment, and each type has specific regulations the employer needs to follow. Understanding the terminology and regulations concerning wage garnishments allows you to understand what rights the company and employee have and what rules need to be followed.

CCPA

The CCPA, or the Consumer Credit Protection Act, protects employees with wage garnishments from being dismissed because of the garnishment.
U.S. Department of Labor. Farlex also has information about the CCPA.

Spousal maintenance

Spousal maintenance, alimony or spousal support is a set amount of money that a divorced person or a person going through the divorce process must pay his or her spouse. The amount specified depends on the money earned during the marriage and is set by the state.

Voluntary wage assignments

An employee can request that part of his or her pay be garnished or assigned to go to a specific account. This is called a voluntary wage assignment. Voluntary wage assignments can be used to purchase savings bonds, pay a debt, donate to charity and more.
Washington State Office of Financial Management also has information about voluntary wage assignments.

Wage levy

A wage levy is garnishment that the IRS uses to get taxes from individuals who have a balance due. A wage levy can include up to 85 percent of an employee's take-home pay in order to pay back taxes.
Internal Revenue Service to get more information regarding a wage levy.

Writ of garnishment

A writ of garnishment is a court order to garnish an employee's wages or property. A writ of garnishment is presented to the garnishee before the garnishment takes effect.
United States Marshals Service to find information about a writ of garnishment. Learn even more at My Web Lawyer.

Administrative wage garnishment

An administrative wage garnishment is used to pay overdue student loans. Before an administrative wage garnishment takes effect, an order of withholding is sent to the employee to inform him or her of the garnishment.
U.S. Department of Education provides detailed information about administrative wage garnishment. The Financial Management Service also has information about administrative wage garnishments.

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