Restaurants & Hospitality: Payroll Garnishments: What You Need to Know (2026)

The federal limits

Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act caps ordinary garnishments at the lesser of 25 percent of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage, $217.50 a week at $7.25. Child support orders can reach 50 to 65 percent, and tax levies and bankruptcy orders have their own tables. Disposable earnings are gross pay less legally required deductions, not less voluntary ones like a 401(k) or health premium.

What counts as earnings in a restaurant

Tip credit and tip pooling, high turnover, multiple pay rates and split shift premiums are all earnings for garnishment purposes when they are paid as compensation for personal services, so the order applies to the whole check, not the base rate. A tipped employee is one who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips. An employer that takes a tip credit may require a tip pool only among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, such as servers, bussers and service bartenders.

At the BLS May 2025 national median for waiters and waitresses, $35,230 a year or $678 a week, a typical 25 percent cap on disposable earnings lands near $127 a week, and the exact figure depends on that employee's required deductions.

Processing rules that avoid employer liability

An employer that ignores an order can become liable for the amount it should have withheld. Orders are answered by their deadline, multiple orders are stacked in the priority the law sets (child support first), the employee is not disciplined for a single garnishment, and withheld amounts are remitted to the issuing agency on its schedule with the case number on every payment.