Various procedures are available to the clients to pay back their debts. Wage garnishment is one of such methods. Recent reports have even suggested it to be one of the easiest ways to get rid of the pending loan amount. Wage Garnishment in California corresponds to the legal order passed that gives authority to your employer to hold back a part of your compensation to pay your debts.
Wage Garnishment California Law gives a chance to every individual to fight his/her legal battle. Ignoring a summon can hamper your chances of fighting that battle and getting your legal rights. This law regulates wage garnishment and specifies the maximum amount that can be deducted from the compensation. It also prohibits the employer from firing you just on the basis of a single garnishment.
There are various guidelines that the law considers before setting the limit on the garnishment for an individual. The guidelines are based on the maximum amount that can be deducted from the pay-check and it has to be lower than either of the following: 25% of the disposable income exceeding $290. An amount that is greater than 30 times the federal minimum wage of $217.50. The federal minimum wage currently stands at $7.25 per hour.
The law calculates the disposable income as, the gross income minus the required deductions to be made legally, which includes federal, state and local taxes, social security deductions and state retirement plans. Various other deductions like insurance and charitable contributions are not considered a part of the disposable income. These guidelines are set irrespective of the number of creditors seeking garnishment.
Wages to be Taken into Consideration for Garnishment: Wage Garnishment California Law makes provision to act upon different types of wages and considers them a part to be deducted to help the debtor get relief. Wages, salaries, commissions, bonuses, pension and retirement income fall under this category. There are several other types of income that cannot be garnished, for example - Tips. Social Security benefits are also not taken into consideration, except by the Federal government.
Garnishment on the Basis of Child or Spousal Support: Wage Garnishment in California makes provision for 50% of the wages to be deducted if you are supporting a child or spouse. A provision to get 60% of the wages garnished is also present if you are not supporting anyone. Additional 5% can also be engaged for garnishment, if you owe more than 12 weeks of back payments.
State Law Governing Wage Garnishment: Every state has its own law for wage garnishment. Wherever the state law differs from the federal law, the one that results in the lowest amount should be considered.
Federal Debts Involving Garnishment: The federal agencies are given a relaxation to collect 15% of your disposable income to cover the non-tax debts. Additional 10% of the income can also be garnished by the Department of Education to pay back the federal student loans. State laws have no interference with the federal debts owed.
Security of Job under Wage Garnishment: As per the Consumer Credit Protection Act, an employer is not entitled to fire you for having one single debt garnished from your wages. However, this might not be the case after two or three separate garnishments.
The above factors define wage garnishment and thus calculations are made on their behalf.
This post is shared by Attorneyforbankruptcy.com, which a leading law firm of California. Here you can have detailed information on wage garnishment in california and debt consolidation in california.