A wage garnishment turns the employer into a collection point for someone else's debt. The employer does not owe the debt, but the law makes it responsible for withholding correctly once it has been served. When the process breaks down, the liability usually shifts to the employer: the amount it should have withheld, sometimes the whole judgment, plus fees, costs and, for some order types, penalties.
This guide walks through what actually happens when an employer failed to garnish ...
Employees ask the question one way: "Can wage garnishment get you fired?" HR has to answer it the other way: can we discharge, discipline or refuse to hire someone because an order landed in the payroll inbox? The short answer is that federal law bars discharge over a garnishment for one debt, several states go further, and the separate rules for child support and federal agency garnishments protect against discipline and refusal to hire as well as firing. The longer answer matters, because ...
An administrative wage garnishment (AWG) order looks like any other garnishment when it lands in the mailroom, but it is a different animal. No judge signed it. A federal agency issued it on its own authority after giving the employee notice and a chance at a hearing, and federal law makes it binding on you the moment you receive it. If you treat it like a creditor writ and wait for a court document, or send it back with a note that you only honor court orders, the employer, not the ...
An injured employee is released to light duty, HR offers a suitable assignment, and the employee says no. What happens next depends on which laws apply, and often more than one does. Under the FMLA, the employee generally has the right to say no. Under workers' compensation, saying no may cost them wage benefits. Under the ADA, the answer depends on whether light duty is an accommodation and whether the employee can do the essential functions without it.
HR's job is to apply each law ...
Most employees searching for a "return to work doctor's note" want to know what to bring back. HR's question is the other side of it: when can we require one, what should it say, and what are we not allowed to ask? The answer depends on why the employee was out. The FMLA, the ADA, workers' compensation and state or local paid sick leave laws each set different rules, and a note policy that ignores them can turn a routine absence into a compliance problem.
When a Return-to-Work Note
...A fitness-for-duty evaluation is one of the most useful tools HR has when an employee's health may be affecting safety or performance, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Order one without a solid reason and the employer has made an unlawful medical inquiry under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Skip one when the warning signs are obvious and the employer may be left explaining an injury it could have prevented.
This guide covers when the ADA allows an evaluation of a ...
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