Setting Up Employee Garnishments

Purpose

A garnishment is a court- or agency-ordered deduction from an employee's pay: child support, spousal support, tax levies, student loans, creditor garnishments. This article covers entering a garnishment order on an employee's payroll record so the right amount is withheld each pay period, capped correctly, and sent to the right payee. It also explains how UZIO handles more than one order for the same employee and where the withheld money goes.

Who can do this: Any user whose role includes the Payroll permission, or the employee-level payroll permission for individual records. This is usually the Employer Admin, but other admin roles can be granted the same access.

Prerequisites

• The garnishment order document. It contains everything you will enter: case number, amounts, payee, and the issuing state.
• A garnishment-type deduction at the company level. See Setting Up Company Level Deductions. The company-level Garnishment Type category (Child Support, Spousal Support, Student Loan, Tax Levy, Other) decides which of the order types below are available.
• The employee's payroll record is complete. See Setting Up Employee Payroll.

Garnishment types and priority

When an employee has more than one garnishment, UZIO withholds in this legal priority order:

1. Child Support Order (highest priority)
2. Spousal Support Order
3. Federal Tax Lien
4. State Tax Lien
5. Federal Loan
6. Student Loan
7. Creditor Garnishment
8. Other (you name the type)

Within the same type, the Sequence Number you enter on each order decides the processing order.

Steps

1. Open the employee's payroll record from Employees Payroll Setup and go to the Deductions tab.
2. Add the garnishment-type deduction and complete the order fields below, exactly as they appear on the order.
3. Answer How do you wish to limit this deduction amount?: Annually (an annual maximum), Lumpsum (a total amount owed, after which the deduction stops), or No Limit.
4. Upload the order under Upload Garnishment Order (PDF, XLS, JPG, PNG, or HEIC). It stays attached to the deduction and can be downloaded later.
5. Click Update. Withholding starts on the next payroll processed for the employee.

Fields on the order form

How the amount is calculated

• Disposable income is gross pay minus legally required taxes, minus any company deductions you selected on the form. Which earnings count toward disposable income is set on each earning. See Setting Up Company Level Earnings.
• The percentage or fixed amount is applied, then capped by the maximum percentage or dollar cap, then reduced if needed to respect the minimum take-home protection.
• Several orders. Orders are processed in priority order, then by Sequence Number, each against what remains of the allowable disposable income.
• Several child support orders. When the total current support due exceeds the allowable disposable income, UZIO prorates across the orders instead of paying one in full and skipping another. Each order gets its share of the allowable amount in proportion to its face amount.

Confirm the treatment for a specific order with the child support agency or your counsel. The proration is UZIO's calculation, not legal advice.

What happens after you save

• Paycheck and pay stub. The garnishment appears as a deduction line on each paycheck from the next payroll onward, under the deduction's name.
• Payroll Cost Report. Garnishments have their own sections (C and H) so you can see the total withheld per run.
• Remittance. For Payroll-remitted orders, UZIO debits the withheld amount from your bank account with the payroll if your company impounds, or when the payment is due if it does not ("Payments for tax and garnishments are not debited immediately by UZIO. As the due date approaches, a debit is scheduled and transferred directly to the appropriate agencies."). For Employer-remitted orders, the amount stays in your account and you pay the agency. See Understanding the UZIO Tax Payment Process.
• Reports. The Payroll Register and the Assigned Deductions Report show what was withheld and the remaining balance for orders with a total amount owed.
• General Ledger. Map the garnishment deduction to a liability (credit) account. See Setting Up the General Ledger and Exporting Payroll Journal Entries.
• When the order ends. A Lumpsum limit stops the deduction automatically once the total is reached. For a court release, end the deduction on the employee's record yourself.

Common problems

Nothing was withheld this pay period

Check the employee's disposable income for the period. A minimum take-home protection, a cap, or a higher-priority order can reduce a garnishment to zero. The Payroll Register shows the amounts.

I cannot save with Payroll-remitted

Your company does not have the payroll remittance service. Save with Employer-remitted and remit the payment yourself, or contact UZIO Support about enabling the service.

Can I add notes to a garnishment?

No. The form has no free-text notes field. Keep commentary in your own records and attach the order document to the deduction. To verify what was withheld and remitted, use the Payroll Register and the Assigned Deductions Report.

A new child support order arrived while a creditor garnishment is active

Enter it. Child support outranks creditor garnishments, so UZIO processes it first and the creditor garnishment takes what disposable income remains. Review the next Payroll Register to confirm.

Still stuck?

If an order needs a field the form does not offer, or a withheld amount does not match your reading of the order, please reach out to us at support@uzio.com or call +1-571-601-1752. Include the employee ID, the garnishment type and case number, the pay date, the amount withheld, and the amount you expected. Do not email the order document itself or the employee's SSN.

Related articles

• Setting Up Company Level Deductions: the company-level garnishment deduction
• Setting Up Employee Payroll: the Deductions tab and the deduction limit question
• Setting Up Company Level Earnings: which earnings count toward disposable income
• Understanding the UZIO Tax Payment Process: how payroll-remitted garnishments are debited
• Understanding Automatic Deduction Arrears