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Training For Arkansas Garnishment Law Requirements

What Is A Garnishment?

A wage garnishment is any legal or equitable procedure through which some portion of a person's earnings is required to be withheld by an employer for the payment of a debt.

The six basic types of garnishments are child support, federal, state, or local levies, creditor garnishments, and student loans, with the largest amount of garnishments being for child support.

Employer Guidelines For Handling Garnishments

Employers generally have to notify the debtor in writing that a wage garnishment is about to start before making a garnishment and sending payments to the creditor. The wage garnishment then typically continues until the debts are paid off or otherwise resolved. Employers are required to provide employees with a copy of garnishment paperwork.

With regard to child support garnishments, all states are required to use the "Order/Notice To Withhold Income For Child Support" notice for Child Support. This notice is designed to provide employers with key information so that they do not have to decipher unfamiliar orders/notices from different states. Click here for details on this notice, including steps to process this notice.

Employers should note that they cannot contest the income-withholding order; however, the employer should contact the issuing agency if unable to implement the withholding either because the individual named in the order is not an employee or a withholding is already in place for the child and employee. Additionally, employers should note that states often have varying garnishment rules, so they should be sure to know the payroll wage garnishments rules for the state(s) in which it does business.

Arkansas Wage Garnishment Rules

The state constitution and statutes exempt from garnishment the lesser of the first 60 days' wages or $200 for a single person, $500 for a head of family if the employee certifies that wages plus other personal property equal less than these amounts. If the federal exemption is more beneficial for employees, however, the federal exemption applies. Under federal law, the maximum that employers can withhold is the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.

Payments under a pension, profit-sharing, or similar plan are exempt from garnishment unless the payments do not qualify under the applicable provisions of the federal Internal Revenue Code. Also exempt from garnishment under federal law is Social Security, veterans' benefits, unemployment compensation, and workers' compensation.

Arkansas employers must begin withholding from wages after garnishment orders are served and continue withholding until the total amount due is paid.

In Arkansas, employees cannot be fired because of a garnishment if the employee is a non-custodial parent with an income withholding order. For example, if you are paying court-ordered child support through an income withholding order from your paycheck and you do not live with the child you're supporting, your employer cannot terminate you because of the withholding order.

Recommended Garnishment Training Courses:

• Garnishments, Child Support Orders, And Other Levies
• Dealing with Subpoenas, Summonses, Garnishments, Tax Levies, Etc.
• Certificate Program For Payroll Specialists
• Paycheck Fundamentals Training & Certification Program