Legal Question in Employment Law in Washington

writ of garnishement

If a writ has been ''apllied for'' and we have received notification of such, with reference to one of our employees, do we have to act on same?


Asked on 5/21/08, 2:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Susan Beecher Susan L. Beecher, Atty at Law

Re: writ of garnishement

I'm assuming that the writ of garnishment that has been applied for will garnish the wages of your employee. You do not have to do anything until you receive the actual writ of garnishment. Then, you must withhold from your employee's wages the amount shown in the writ, and forward that to the creditor named in the writ. Everything that you must do should be spelled out very clearly for you in the writ.

The important thing to remember is that once you receive the writ, you do not have an option to refuse to cooperate. It sometimes happens that employees may become upset with the garnishee (that will be you) and ask the garnishee to pay under the table. I have no idea if this is the kind of thing your employee would do, but if so, make clear to him or her that this is a court order and you have no choice in the matter.

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Answered on 5/21/08, 2:28 pm


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