What Does Garnish Mean? Definition & Context

OnPay

Payroll Software

Terms and Definitions

Garnish

Garnish definition and meaning (Also see GARNISHMENT)

To garnish is to withhold part of an employee’s wages on behalf of a creditor or another third party — typically in response to a court order.

More about garnishing

When wages are garnished, they are taken from an employee’s post-tax earnings. Employers are commonly required to garnish wages when an employee has unpaid taxes, child, or spousal support obligations, but garnishments can also be issued to satisfy an employee’s student loan debts, lease defaults, credit card debts, or other court orders.

“If I don’t pay back these loans, they’re going to garnish my paycheck.”

Terms related to: Garnish

Articles and resources related to: Garnish

LET'S DO THIS

Your first month’s on us

Try OnPay out yourself to see how easy payroll and HR can be. To get started, just share a few basic details about your business. Our team of pros will set everything up and import your employees’ information for you.

First Name

Last Name

Company name

Work Email Address

Company Phone Number

Employee count

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

What does garnish mean?

Garnish definition and meaning (Also see GARNISHMENT)

More about garnishing

LET'S DO THIS

Your first month’s on us