APA Garnishments & Wage Deductions 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), what is the maximum percentage of an employee's disposable earnings that a creditor garnishment can attach?
- 10%
- 20%
- 25% (Correct answer)
- 50%
Correct answer: 25%
Title III of the CCPA limits creditor garnishments to the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.
Question 2: How does the CCPA define 'disposable earnings' for garnishment calculation purposes?
- Gross wages before any deductions
- Wages remaining after mandatory deductions required by law (Correct answer)
- Net pay after all voluntary and involuntary deductions
- Wages minus only federal income tax
Correct answer: Wages remaining after mandatory deductions required by law
Disposable earnings are the wages remaining after legally required deductions such as taxes, Social Security, Medicare, and state unemployment insurance — not voluntary deductions.
Question 3: An employee has disposable earnings of $400 per week. The federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour. What is the maximum a creditor can garnish per week?
- $100.00 (Correct answer)
- $117.50
- $182.50
- $200.00
Correct answer: $100.00
The lesser of 25% of $400 ($100) or $400 minus 30×$7.25 ($182.50) is $100, so the maximum creditor garnishment is $100.
Question 4: When an employee has both a child support withholding order and a creditor garnishment, which obligation generally takes priority?
- Creditor garnishment, because it was received first
- Child support withholding order, by federal law (Correct answer)
- The order with the greater dollar amount
- The employer decides based on state law
Correct answer: Child support withholding order, by federal law
Federal law gives child support and spousal support withholding orders priority over all other garnishments, including creditor and tax levies in most states.
Question 5: Under the CCPA, what protection does an employee receive regarding employment when subject to a single garnishment?
- No protection; employers may discharge at will
- Employers must reduce hours but cannot terminate
- Employers cannot discharge the employee because of that garnishment (Correct answer)
- Employees must be transferred to a non-customer-facing role
Correct answer: Employers cannot discharge the employee because of that garnishment
The CCPA prohibits an employer from discharging an employee solely because earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness.
Question 6: For a child support withholding order, what is the maximum percentage of disposable earnings that can be withheld for an employee who is NOT supporting a second family and is 15 weeks in arrears?
- 50%
- 55%
- 60%
- 65% (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 65%
An employee without a second family obligation can have up to 60% withheld for child support, plus an additional 5% when 12 or more weeks in arrears, totaling 65%.
Question 7: Which federal agency issues Publication 1494 used by payroll professionals to calculate the exempt amount from an IRS tax levy?
- Department of Labor
- Social Security Administration
- Internal Revenue Service (Correct answer)
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Correct answer: Internal Revenue Service
IRS Publication 1494 provides the tables used to determine the amount exempt from levy based on the employee's filing status and number of claimed exemptions.
APA Garnishments & Wage Deductions 1
Under Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA), what is the maximum percentage of an employee's disposable earnings that a creditor garnishment can attach?