When an organization decides to seize the money that belongs to the debtor who is generally an employee, it writes the garnishment notification letter to the employee. People working in the United States can face the situation of a garnished paycheck when they have initially borrowed money from someone and the company deducts the amount from their paycheck to pay off the loan of the creditor.
What is a garnishment notification letter?
Through this letter, the employer informs the employee about the deduction the company is going to make from the wages of a paycheck the employee will receive. This is important information that should always be brought in writing so that it can be kept as evidence that the employer did communicate the deduction.
Why garnishment notification letter to employees is written?
There are plenty of reasons for an organization to write a garnishment notification letter. For example, when the employee takes money for child support, alimony, or when he gets bankrupt or defaulted on loans of any kind. After having this letter written, an organization protects itself from the possible problems that may arise in the future.
When to write the letter?
In general, the person who mandates the garnishment writes the letter to the employee letting him know about the deduction. However, employers also write notification letters because it is their responsibility to release the paycheck. Whatever deductions are to be made from the salary or wages of the employee are always made with the consent of the employer.
In some cases, the lender does not directly contact the employee. Rather, he writes the garnishment letter to the employer of the borrower providing all the evidence of the borrowed money, and then the employer writes the garnishment notification letter to the employee to explain.
The employer should always remember that this letter should always be sent before the deduction is made from the salary. It is good to tell the employee about the deduction beforehand so that he prepares himself for it.
What information should be communicated through the garnishment notification letter?
This letter includes the information relevant to that particular scenario in which it is being written. Some of the most common details to be communicated include:
Details of the employee:
The letter must specify the details of the person you are sending the notice of garnishment. This tells who you are addressing and thus, no ambiguity remains. The details of the employee to be communicated are:
- Legal full name
- Social security
- Department name
- Date of issuance of letter
As per the situation, you can choose to add some other details in the notification letter also. However, make sure that the details are relevant.
Describe the reason for sending the notice:
It is important to mention that why the employee is receiving the notice. The employee might be expecting it. But the employer should specify the reason. It can be clearly described in the letter that the employee had not been paying the money he borrowed for child support or any other reason and the lender has contacted the company and requested the garnishment.
Describe the decision of the company:
After having provided the reason for the notification, the company is in a better position to let the employee know about the decision. Most of the time, the decision is about the deduction from the salary to compensate the lender.
This deduction is always a percentage of the total salary of the employee. What percentage of the salary the company is going to deduct and for how long the garnishment will be carried out should also be specified in this section since it is also a decision the company has made.
Other details:
There are some other details that an employer might think are important to bring up. The employer can tell that the garnishment decision has been taken because of the letter received from an external source. The employee can also tell if the employee will be eligible to get the bonuses and promotions in the future with the garnishment. Make sure that you don’t miss out on any details so that the employee does not feel surprised when he receives his first paycheck.
Sample Letter
Date
Dear Mr. John,
It is to notify you that as per the court orders, we must garnish your wages for a year or till you repay the remaining loan amount, that you owe to the ABC bank. There will be a 10% cut every month, effective from 1st July 20XX.
On 8th August 20XX, you took a loan from the ABC bank, and you have not paid even a single installment back to them. They approached the court, and due to your unstable financial position, as per the article [X], the court has ordered your employer to make this garnishment effective.
The salary would not be cut in any month, if you or your closest family member suffers from a medical emergency in that month, that costed up to $[X].
We must process and channelize the deducted amount to the government payroll system, the fee of which is $70, and will also be deducted from your salary. The total basic salary that you be receiving for the year will equal $[X].
If you can arrange the funds sooner, you can request the court to end the garnishment order. We apologize that we cannot stop your salary garnishing, as we have received the court orders. We are attaching those for you to see as well.
If you need any assistance or documents, as an evidence, to present in the court, please contact us at [X].
We regret the inconvenience.
Thank you.
Regards,
Laura Watson.
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