A wage garnishment is any legal or equitable procedure through which some portion of a person’s earnings is required to be withheld for the payment of a debt. Most garnishments are made by court order. Other types of legal or equitable procedures for garnishment include IRS or state tax collection agency levies for unpaid taxes and federal agency administrative garnishments for non-tax debts owed to the federal government.
Currently, Zeal supports child support garnishments tax levies and other court ordered garnishments.
Typically, an employer receives a “notice of garnishment” directly from a government agency. Once received, an employer must notify the affected employee and give them the option to contest the garnishment. When an employer receives a garnishment for one of their employees, it is their responsibility to upload the garnishment information including:
- Name of the employee being garnished
- Agency or court requesting the garnishment
- Case ID
- Order Number
- Remittance ID
- Amount to be paid
- Address to send the payment
The initial garnishment notification the employer received from the garnishment agency (i.e. Kentucky Child Support Enforcement), in most cases, will break down the amount owed by the employee. This may be a percentage, flat, or percentage up to a certain amount of wages earned. The notice will have a phone number on it for any questions.
Title III
Title III of the CCPA protects individuals by limiting the amount of earnings that can be garnished. No garnishment payment can exceed the limits set out by Title III, unless an employee voluntarily elects to withhold more than the maximum amount. Title III applies for all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories. Although many states follow federal guidelines for determining garnishment payment amounts, garnishment limitations can vary by state. Employers should consult the rules in any applicable state to determine how much garnishment payments should be.
Zeal will take the information sent in by the employer to make payments to the applicable agency. These garnishment payments will continue to be made per the timeline the employer lays out in the API. Zeal tracks all garnishment checks to ensure that they are clearing the bank account and getting applied to the correct account.
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