BILL NUMBER: AB 1775 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 17, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wieckowski
FEBRUARY 17, 2012
An act to amend Section Sections 706.011
and 706.050 of the Code of Civil Procedure, relating to wage
garnishment.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1775, as amended, Wieckowski. Wage garnishment: exempt
earnings.
Existing
The Wage Garnishment Law governs earnings withholding orders
and provides definitions of certain terms. Existing law
requires a levy of execution upon the earnings of a judgment debtor
to be made by service of an earnings withholding order upon the
debtor's employer. Existing law limits the amount of earnings of a
judgment debtor that may be subject to an earnings withholding order
to the amount specified by federal law, unless an exception applies.
Federal law prohibits the amount of earnings that may be subject to
garnishment from exceeding 25% of an individual's weekly disposable
earnings or the amount by which the individual's disposable earnings
for the week exceed 30 times the state federal
minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are
payable.
This bill would define "disposable earnings" as the portion
of an individual's earnings that remains after deducting all amounts
required to be withheld by law. The bill would also prohibit
the amount of an individual judgment debtor's weekly disposable
earnings subject to garnishment from exceeding the lesser of
25% of the individual's weekly disposable earnings or the
amount by which the individual's disposable earnings for the week
exceed 40 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time
the earnings are payable, unless an exception applies. For any
pay period other than weekly, the bill would also require
the use of certain multipliers to determine a maximum amount subject
to garnishment that is proportional in effect to a calculation based
on the amount by which the individual's earnings for a workweek
exceed 40 times the state minimum wage, except as specified.
This bill would become operative on July 1, 2013. In order to
implement these provisions, the bill would also require the Judicial
Council to, on or before July 1, 2013, revise the instructions
contained in certain documents provided to employers in order to
specify the method of computation described above.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 706.011 of the Code
of Civil Procedure is amended to read:
706.011. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Disposable earnings" means the portion of an individual's
earnings that remains after deducting all amounts required to be
withheld by law.
(a)
(b) "Earnings" means compensation payable by an
employer to an employee for personal services performed by such
employee, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or
otherwise.
(b)
(c) "Earnings withholding order for elder or dependent
adult financial abuse" means an earnings withholding order, made
pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 706.100) and based on
a money judgment in an action for elder or adult dependent financial
abuse under Section 15657.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(c)
(d) "Earnings assignment order for support" means an
order, made pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 5200) of
Part 5 of Division 9 of the Family Code or Section 3088 of the
Probate Code, which requires an employer to withhold earnings for
support.
(d)
(e) "Employee" means a public officer and any
individual who performs services subject to the right of the employer
to control both what shall be done and how it shall be done.
(e)
(f) "Employer" means a person for whom an individual
performs services as an employee.
(f)
(g) "Judgment creditor," as applied to the state, means
the specific state agency seeking to collect a judgment or tax
liability.
(g)
(h) "Judgment debtor" includes a person from whom the
state is seeking to collect a tax liability under Article 4
(commencing with Section 706.070), whether or not a judgment has been
obtained on such tax liability.
(h)
(i) "Person" includes an individual, a corporation, a
partnership or other unincorporated association, a limited liability
company, and a public entity.
SECTION 1. SEC. 2. Section 706.050
of the Code of Civil Procedure is amended to read:
706.050. (a) Except as otherwise provided
in this chapter, the maximum amount of disposable earnings of an
individual judgment debtor for any workweek that is subject to
garnishment shall not exceed either the
lesser of the following:
(a)
(1) Twenty-five percent of the individual's disposable
earnings for that week.
(b)
(2) The amount by which the individual's disposable
earnings for that week that exceed 40 times the
state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are
payable.
(b) For any pay period other than weekly, the following
multipliers shall be used to determine the maximum amount of
disposable earnings subject to garnishment that is proportional in
effect to the calculation described in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a), except as specified in paragraph (1):
(1) For a daily pay period, the amounts shall be identical to the
amounts described in subdivision (a).
(2) For a biweekly pay period, multiply the state hourly minimum
wage by 80 work hours.
(3) For a semimonthly pay period, multiply the state hourly
minimum wage by 86 2/3 work hours.
(4) For a monthly pay period, multiply the state hourly minimum
wage by 173 1/3 work hours.
SEC. 3. This act shall become operative on July 1,
2013.
SEC. 4. In order to implement the provisions of
this act, the Judicial Council shall, on or before July 1, 2013,
revise the instructions contained in the employer's instructions
pursuant to Section 706.127 of the Code of Civil Procedure to specify
the method of computation described in Section 2 of this act.