Disposable Income Limits

• A New Jersey employer may refuse to garnish an employee's wages for court-ordered alimony payments if his disposable earnings are less than 30 times the current federal minimum wage. Disposable income is the amount of wages after involuntary income deductions, such as state and federal taxes. Payments to group health insurance or retirement account contributions are voluntary deductions so those payment amounts are included in disposable pay calculations.
  
  

Garnishment Limits

• An employee's wages are garnishable, up to 65 percent of disposable earnings. If the employee is supporting a family, though, up to 50 percent of his disposable earnings are subject to garnishment for an alimony order. If he is more than three months behind on his alimony, up to 55 percent of his disposable earnings are subject to garnishment. If the employee did not remarry and does not have other children, up to 60 percent of his disposable earnings are subject to garnishment. If he is three months behind on his alimony payments, up to 65 percent of his disposable wages are subject to garnishment.
  
  

Validity of Order

• An employer in New Jersey may refuse to garnish an employee's wages for court-ordered alimony payments if the employer does not believe that the order is valid or binding. In this case, the employer must contact the state agency listed on the garnishment order to alert them to their concerns over the validity of the order. If the agency verifies that the order is valid, the employer can no longer refuse to garnish the employee's wages.
  
  

Employer Consequences

• If an employer refuses to fulfill a garnishment for court-ordered alimony payments, the employer may be held liable for the alimony payments it should have withheld from the employee. The employer can also be held liable for any accumulated alimony payments it should have withheld from the employee. This means that the employer may be held liable for alimony payments that accumulated due to their refusal to garnish the employee's wages at the time they received a specific order to do so.