Training For New Jersey Garnishment Law Requirements

What Is A Garnishment?

A wage garnishment is any legal or equitable procedure through which some portion of a person's earnings is required to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt.

The six basic types of garnishments are child support, federal, state, or local levies, creditor garnishments, and student loans, with the largest amount of garnishments being for child support.

Employer Guidelines For Handling Garnishments

Employers generally have to notify the debtor in writing that a wage garnishment is about to start before making a garnishment and sending payments to the creditor. The wage garnishment then typically continues until the debts are paid off or otherwise resolved. Employers are required to provide employees with a copy of garnishment paperwork.

With regard to child support garnishments, all states are required to use the "Order/Notice To Withhold Income For Child Support" notice for Child Support. This notice is designed to provide employers with key information so that they do not have to decipher unfamiliar orders/notices from different states. Click here for details on this notice, including steps to process this notice.

Employers should note that they cannot contest the income-withholding order; however, the employer should contact the issuing agency if unable to implement the withholding either because the individual named in the order is not an employee or a withholding is already in place for the child and employee. Additionally, employers should note that states often have varying garnishment rules, so they should be sure to know the payroll wage garnishments rules for the state(s) in which it does business.

New Jersey Wage Garnishment Rules

In New Jersey, wage garnishment is referred to as "wage execution" or "wage attachment".

Re child support orders, the maximum amount that can be withheld runs between 50 (if the employee is supporting another spouse and/or children) and 65% (if the employee is not supporting another spouse and/or children and is at least 12 weeks in arrears in making support payments).

Re levies, New Jersey is one of the few states that provide its employees with stricter garnishment rules than the federal law mandates. While most state use the "25-30 Rule", New Jersey uses a "10-25 Rule" where the "10" allows the creditor to garnish no more than 10% of an employee's income if he or she earns at or under 250% of the federal poverty level for the size family in question, and the "25" means that no more than 25% of "disposable earnings" can be garnished (but only if the employee earns more than 250% of the federal poverty level.

Recommended Garnishment Training Courses:

• Garnishments, Child Support Orders, And Other Levies
• Dealing with Subpoenas, Summonses, Garnishments, Tax Levies, Etc.
• Certificate Program For Payroll Specialists
• Paycheck Fundamentals Training & Certification Program