New Jersey Wage Garnishment: New Jersey Child Support Garnishment

New Jersey wage garnishment is established when an order for child support collection is served on the noncustodial parent’s employer. The order can include wage garnishment for spousal support as well. It’s important to know that child support collection continues in New Jersey even if an employee becomes unable to work and receives income through workers’ compensation or disability insurance. When an employer has been served with a wage garnishment order, the employer must report any changes in the noncustodial parent’s employment situation to the issuing agency. Additional information on New Jersey child support collection is provided below.

New Jersey Child Support Collection

An order for support in New Jersey is an order, judgment, or decree for the necessary expenses associated with taking care of a child. An order of support can also include spousal support. Orders for support will often provide for monetary support, health care coverage, arrearages, or reimbursement for support paid. The support order may also include related costs, interest, and attorneys’ fees, if necessary.

Who Withholds the Money

When an employer or administrator of other income receives an order for support against their employee, they must enforce the order. The New Jersey definition of “employer” is provided by section 3401(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, and includes any governmental entity or labor organization. An administrator of income includes administrators of other sources of payments, such as from pensions, workers’ compensation, or third-party sick pay insurance. When an employee subject to an order of support becomes eligible for workers’ compensation or disability, the employer must forward a copy of the order to the insurance company at the same time that the claim is filed.

When is Money Withheld

When an employer receives a support order for one of their employees, they should begin withholding on the next payday immediately following the date on the order for support. Thereafter, the employer should withhold and remit payment every payday. The New Jersey child support agency accepts payment by check or by Electronic Transfer Funds (EFT), in Cash Concentration and Disbursement (CCD+) format or by Corporate Trade Exchange (CTX) format. A New Jersey employer with more than one employee that is subject to a support order can combine payments for all of them. When the employer combines payments, they must identify the amount owed by each employee, along with their names, case, number, and payday date. The employer must withhold and remit each payday, meaning that a New Jersey employer cannot accumulate withholdings to make one monthly payment.

Out-of-State Orders

New Jersey abides by the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), which mandates that an employer honor a support order they are served with from another state. In enforcing the out-of-state order, the employer must be able to keep up with and follow both the employee’s work state laws and the laws of the issuing state. When determining the duration of the order, the amount to withhold, and where to remit payment, the employer should look to the issuing state’s laws. When determining the withholding limits, how to define disposable earnings, how to allocate orders when an employee is subject to more than one, and when to begin and remit holding, the employer must follow the laws of the state where the employee works.