This bulletin supersedes Payroll Bulletins 1676

Purpose

The purpose of this bulletin is to inform agencies of changes in certain garnishment deduction amounts, or in some instances, garnishments no longer being taken for employees due to new minimum wage rates affecting the general deduction rules for calculating new and existing writs of garnishments (creditor garnishments) and New York State tax levies.

Affected Employees

Employees who have a writ of garnishment or New York State tax levy are affected.

Background

The Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (Title III) (CPPA) places limits to creditor garnishments and New York State tax levies on the amount that can be garnished. The CPPA states that the maximum amount of an employee’s “disposable earnings” that can be garnished to repay a debt is the lesser of 25% of the employee’s disposable earnings for the week or the amount by which the employee’s disposable earnings for the week exceeds 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage in effect. Disposable earnings are calculated on the single minimum wage rate set by the New York State Commissioner of Labor. The disposable earnings calculation will be calculated according to the employee’s job location and the current year’s minimum wage rate for that location. Current garnishment orders may be subject to a reduction in the garnishment amount, or in some instances, the garnishment may no longer be taken. If an employee’s garnishment is no longer taken, it does not necessarily mean the employee’s garnishment has been satisfied.

Effective Date(s)

Institution Paychecks dated January 2, 2020

Administration Paychecks dated January 8, 2020

OSC Actions

OSC will update the General Deduction Rules for the new single minimum wage rates effective December 31, 2019.

Agency Actions

Agencies must notify affected employees.

Questions

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the Payroll Deductions mailbox.