The Law

• Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act provides protections for employees regarding wage garnishments. The law prevents an employer from firing an employee for a single wage garnishment and it also limits the amount a creditor can take from the employee's paycheck during a workweek or pay period. According to the Department of Labor, creditors can garnish the lesser of up to 25 percent of the employee's disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings are 30 times greater than the federal minimum hourly wage.
  
  

Child Support

• Title III makes an exception in wage garnishment limits for certain types of debt.
  Wage garnishments for child support can exceed the 25 percent threshold. For child support, a garnishment can be as high as 50 percent of disposable earnings if the employee is supporting a current spouse or child that is not the subject of the garnishment order, and up to 60 percent if the employee is not supporting a current spouse or child, according to the Department of Labor.
  
  

Considerations

• According to the Department of Labor, the garnishment limits of Title III do not restrict the amount of wages that can be garnished as the result of a bankruptcy court order. The law also does not limit the amount that can be garnished for unpaid state taxes or federal taxes. Also, under The Higher Education Technical Amendments of 1991, the Department of Education can garnish up to 15 percent of your wages for unpaid student loans.
  
  

Warning

• Title III specifically prohibits an employer from terminating an employee based on a wage garnishment from a single debt, regardless of how many levies are imposed to collect on that one debt. The law does not stop the employer from terminating an employee if that employer receives garnishment orders for additional debts. Employers are required by law to comply with garnishment orders and such compliance adds an extra layer of work for the employer. Federal law does not require employers to shoulder the responsibility of complying with multiple garnishments for multiple debts.