What is wage garnishment? How does wage deduction occur due to debt enforcement?

What is Wage Garnishment? | How are Salary Deductions Made Due to Enforcement Debt? | Enforcement Law | Enforcement Lawyer | Lawyer in Izmir | Law Firm in Izmir

What is wage garnishment, a method used to collect debts during enforcement proceedings? Wage garnishment is a common method in practice. Based on legal procedures established by law, creditors can garnish an employee's salary due to their debts. 

If a person against whom enforcement proceedings have been initiated is employed, whether in the public or private sector, the enforcement office sends a wage garnishment order to their employer in accordance with Articles 355 et al. of the Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law. Accordingly, the employer who receives the garnishment order is obliged to inform the enforcement office within one week that the garnishment has been executed and to immediately deduct the garnished amount from the debtor's salary or wages and deposit it with the enforcement office until the debt is paid off. Failure of the employer to comply with this order constitutes a crime, and a criminal complaint may be filed against them with the prosecutor's office.

Salary is among the assets that can be partially seized, and as stipulated by law, a maximum of one-quarter of the salary can be seized. After deducting Family Allowance, Minimum Living Allowance, and Child Allowance from the net salary (received), a 1/4 deduction is made from the remaining amount. 

(Exception) Another important aspect of wage garnishment is alimony payments. Although the general rule is that no more than one-quarter of an employee's monthly wage can be deducted, the legislator has made an exception here, removing the one-quarter limit when it comes to alimony payments. Therefore, the entire monthly alimony debt that the employee is obligated to pay will be deducted from their wages by the employer and deposited with the enforcement office, without being subject to the one-quarter limit.

Article 83 – Salaries, allowances and all kinds of wages, usufruct rights and income, alimony not based on a court order, retirement pensions, annuities allocated by insurance companies or pension funds, and other funds allocated by the enforcement officer for the livelihood of the debtor and his family. It can be seized after deducting the amount deemed necessary. However, the amount to be seized cannot be less than one-quarter of these. If there is more than one seizure, they are placed in order. The deduction for the next seizure cannot begin until the deduction for the seizure at the front of the line is completed.

Enforcement and Bankruptcy Law

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