Court-ordered deduction from your paycheck to pay debts like child support, student loans, or tax liens.
Common paystub code: GARN / CS / LEVY
A wage garnishment is a legal order requiring your employer to withhold a portion of your earnings to pay a debt. Common garnishments include child support (up to 65% of disposable income), federal student loans (up to 15%), IRS tax levies (varies), and creditor judgments (up to 25% under federal law). Garnishments are involuntary — your employer has no choice but to comply, and they cannot fire you for having a single garnishment order.
On a typical US paystub, wage garnishment information appears in one of three sections — the earnings summary, the deductions list, or the year-to-date (YTD) totals — depending on the type of item. Understanding where to find it helps you verify accuracy, catch payroll errors, and prepare for tax season or loan applications.
Whether you receive a digital paystub through your employer's payroll system (such as ADP, Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, or Paychex) or a traditional paper stub, the information for wage garnishment is required by federal labor law to be itemized and accurate. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state-specific wage transparency laws mandate that employees can review and verify each line of their paystub.
Accurate knowledge of wage garnishment is essential for several real-world scenarios common to US workers: when applying for an apartment rental (landlords typically require recent paystubs as proof of income), when applying for a car loan or mortgage (lenders verify gross and net pay across multiple paystubs), when filing your annual tax return (IRS Form 1040 reconciles to your year-to-date W-2 or 1099 totals), and when changing jobs (you may need to provide last paystubs to your new employer for benefits eligibility verification).
If you spot an error related to wage garnishment on your paystub, US labor law requires your employer to investigate and correct the issue. The American Payroll Association reports that nearly 75% of US workers will experience at least one payroll error during their career, which is why understanding each line item — including wage garnishment — is one of the most valuable financial literacy skills you can develop.