Many employees working in a workplace face garnishment on their salary for unpaid debts such as consumer debts or alimony. There are key steps workers can take to prevent or stop garnishment if they act appropriately.
Can a Worker’s Salary Be Garnished?
There is no absolute prohibition on garnishing a worker’s salary, only certain legal limits. If a garnishment is issued against an employee’s wages, the employer must follow specified rules, but the primary responsibility for raising objections lies with the employee. The employer is required to implement garnishment orders received from the relevant authority or enforcement office and make the necessary deductions from the employee’s pay and remit them to the creditor institution.
Therefore, any objections by the employee should be directed to the enforcement office or the institution that issued the garnishment, not to the employer. Besides enforcement offices, public institutions such as Social Security Institution (SGK) and the Tax Office have authority to directly place garnishments on salaries to collect debts owed to them. The Tax Office may apply garnishment not only for unpaid taxes but also for other public receivables covered by Law No. 6183. Claims belonging to private persons or legal entities are generally collected through enforcement and seizure procedures carried out by enforcement offices. Garnishment is imposed for debts that have passed their payment deadline and have been referred to enforcement. For debts that enter enforcement, SGK, the Tax Office, or the Enforcement Office will first send a payment order to the debtor.
There Is a 7-Day Period to Object
If the debt will not be paid, the employee must file an objection within seven days. The objection should be made to the same institution or enforcement office that issued the payment order, although the debtor may also apply to the local office where they live if they prefer. An objection to the debt can be made against the claim itself or against the signature on the enforcement document. Examples of valid objections include situations where the debtor has already paid the debt, the claim has expired due to the statute of limitations, the amount stated in the payment order is incorrect, or the enforcement office issued the payment order under a promissory note or other instrument improperly.
When to Object to the Employer
If the debtor does not pay the claimed debt, fails to object to the payment order, or if the objection is rejected, enforcement measures will be applied against the debtor. In that case, deductions from the employee’s salary may be sent to the employer for withholding. If conditions permit—for example, if the employee pays the debt after garnishment is applied, or if the employee was never properly notified—the employee should file an objection with SGK, the Tax Office, or the enforcement office to seek cancellation of the garnishment. If the objection is successful, the institution will lift the wage garnishment restriction.
The employee may also have grounds to raise an objection with the employer in certain situations. The garnishment notice sent to the employer will typically specify that one quarter (1/4) of the employee’s monthly wage may be withheld, and that amounts due for other entitlements and severance or notice pay that arise if the employment contract is terminated may also be included in the scope of the garnishment. If the employer withholds more than one quarter of the employee’s monthly wage, the employee should object because the Code of Obligations and the Labor Law restrict excessive deductions. In such circumstances, the employee should contact SGK or the appropriate authority about the matter. Note that alimony (maintenance) debts are not subject to the same limitation; the amount collectible for alimony is determined by court order.