What happens when we decide to send an administrative wage garnishment order to your employer?
20 C.F.R. § 422.435
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) The wage garnishment order. The wage garnishment order that we send to your employer will contain only the information necessary for the employer to comply with the order. This information includes:
(1) Your name, address, and social security number,
(2) The amount of the debt,
(3) Information about the amount to be withheld, and
(4) Information about where to send the withheld amount.
(b) Electronic record of the garnishment order. We will keep an electronic record of the garnishment order that shows the date we mailed the order to your employer.
(c) Employer certification. Along with the garnishment order, we will send your employer a certification form to complete about your employment status and the amount of your disposable pay available for withholding. Your employer must complete the certification and return it to us within 20 days of receipt.
(d) Amounts to be withheld from your disposable pay. After receipt of the garnishment order issued under this section, your employer must begin withholding from your disposable pay each payday the lesser of:
(1) The amount indicated on the order (up to 15% of your disposable pay); or
(2) The amount by which your disposable pay exceeds thirty times the minimum wage as provided in 15 U.S.C. 1673(a)(2).
(e) Multiple withholding orders. If your disposable pay is subject to more than one withholding order, we apply the following rules to determine the amount that your employer will withhold from your disposable pay:
(1) Unless otherwise provided by Federal law or paragraph (e)(2) of this section, a garnishment order issued under this section has priority over other withholding orders served later in time.
(2) Withholding orders for family support have priority over garnishment orders issued under this section.
(3) If at the time we issue a garnishment order to your employer amounts are already being withheld from your pay under another withholding order, or if a withholding order for family support is served on your employer at any time, the amounts to be withheld under this section will be the lesser of:
(i) The amount calculated under paragraph (d) of this section; or
(ii) The amount calculated by subtracting the amount(s) withheld under the withholding order(s) with priority from 25% of your disposable pay.
(4) If you owe more than one debt to us, we may issue multiple garnishment orders. If we issue more than one garnishment order, the total amount to be withheld from your disposable pay under such orders will not exceed the amount set forth in paragraph (d) or (e)(3) of this section, as appropriate.
(f) You may request that your employer withhold more. If you request in writing that your employer withhold more than the amount determined under paragraphs (d) or (e) of this section, we will order your employer to withhold the amount that you request.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-20.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026