An employee's salary is the amount her employer agreed to pay her each payday. Though salary is usually a fixed amount of pay that the employee can count on, it is not exempt from a wage garnishment. Many states allow creditors and debt collectors to garnish salaries and wages; Ohio is one of those states.
Procedure
To garnish salary in Ohio, a creditor must first file a lawsuit against the debtor. If the judge decides the debtor owes the money, the creditor can ask the judge to deduct the payments from the debtor's paychecks; this process is known as a wage garnishment. Once the judge grants the creditor a judgment declaring that the debtor owes the money, the creditor has 15 to 45 days in which to send the debtor a letter demanding payment. If he fails to pay, or at least respond to, the judgment, the debtor's employer will him give a copy of the garnishment notice it received from the court, which lets the debtor know that the salary deduction will take place. The debtor must request a hearing within five days of receiving the garnishment notice if he does not agree with the deduction amount.
Withholding Calculations
Ohio follows federal garnishment withholding laws, which require an employer to deduct no more than 25 percent of the debtor's weekly disposable income for an ordinary wage garnishment. Disposable income is the employee's salary after tax deductions. Federal law also applies to child support withholding, which requires no more than 50 to 60 percent of disposable income and an extra 5 percent for support payments over 12 weeks late.
Exemptions
Certain cash payments cannot be garnished in Ohio, such as disability assistance, worker's compensation, veterans' benefits, unemployment compensation, Ohio Works First cash assistance payments, and alimony and child support payments.
Avoiding Garnishment
The debtor can avoid a salary garnishment by contacting the agency that she owes and negotiating a payment plan if she cannot pay the amount due in full. If the creditor files a lawsuit, the debtor should respond to the notification and try to pay off the amount due before the court proceeding. Instead of being subject to an actual wage garnishment, the debtor can apply for the appointment of a trustee from his local courthouse. The trustee collects the amount that would be garnished from the debtor's salary and distributes it among the creditors she owes until she satisfies the full balance. Another option is for the debtor to partake in a debt counseling program, which enables her to adjust her debts and make installment payments to the counseling service.
Considerations
If a creditor obtains a wage garnishment against a debtor in Ohio, another creditor has to wait until 30 days thereafter before it can request to garnish more of the debtor's salary. An employer cannot discharge an employee in Ohio because he received one wage garnishment against her. However, the employee is not safe from termination if the employer receives multiple garnishments against her in a 12-month period.
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