California wage garnishment: 20 percent, or 40 percent of what clears 48 hours' minimum wage
California procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
California caps wage garnishment more tightly than federal law does, and since 2023 the calculation has turned on the local minimum wage where that is higher than the state's. For a judgment debtor working in a high-minimum-wage city, that difference can reduce the withholding to nothing.
One route only
CCP 706.010 names the chapter: it "shall be known and may be cited as the 'Wage Garnishment Law.'"
CCP 706.020 makes it exclusive:
- Except for an earnings assignment order for support, the earnings of an employee shall not be required to be withheld by an employer for payment of a debt by means of any judicial procedure other than pursuant to this chapter.
So a creditor cannot reach wages through a general levy, a turnover order, or anything else. It is an earnings withholding order under this chapter, or nothing — with support orders on their own track.
The cap
CCP 706.050(a): except as otherwise provided, the maximum amount of disposable earnings for any workweek subject to levy "shall not exceed the lesser of the following":
(1) Twenty percent of the individual's disposable earnings for that week. (2) Forty percent of the amount by which the individual's disposable earnings for that week exceed 48 times the state minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable. If a judgment debtor works in a location where the local minimum hourly wage is greater than the state minimum hourly wage, the local minimum hourly wage in effect at the time the earnings are payable shall be used for the calculation.
Three things follow.
The lesser of the two. Whichever produces the smaller number is the cap, so 20 percent is a ceiling, not a floor.
Formula (2) has a protected floor. Earnings up to 48 times the applicable minimum hourly wage are not reachable at all. Below that line, formula (2) yields zero and, being the lesser, controls.
And the local minimum wage governs where it is higher. A debtor working in a city with a minimum wage well above the state's has a correspondingly higher protected floor. The employer must apply the wage for the location where the debtor works, not the state figure.
Other pay periods — subdivision (b): for anything other than a weekly period, the section supplies multipliers to make the calculation "proportional in effect" to formula (2) — with a daily pay period using the same amounts as a weekly one, and a biweekly period multiplying the applicable figures accordingly.
The withholding period
CCP 706.022 defines when withholding runs, and the dates are not intuitive.
- "Withholding period" means the period which commences on the 30th day after service of an earnings withholding order upon the judgment debtor's employer. If a claim of exemption is filed with the levying officer, and the employer is given actual notice before the close of business on the 29th day after service … the withholding period commences on the 45th day after service.
So there is a built-in 30-day delay before anything is withheld — and a timely exemption claim pushes it to 45 days, giving the debtor a window in which no money leaves.
When it ends — the period continues until the earliest of:
- (1) The date the employer has withheld the full amount required to satisfy the order.
- (2) The date of termination specified in a court order served on the employer.
- (3) The date of termination specified in a notice of termination served on the employer by the levying officer.
- (4) The date of termination of a dormant or suspended earnings withholding order as determined under CCP 706.032.
And the order cannot outlive the judgment — subdivision (a): a creditor "shall not enforce an earnings withholding order beyond the period of enforceability as defined in Section 683.020 or, if renewed, as provided for in subdivision (c) of Section 683.120."
That points at the ten-year life of a California judgment, and at the shorter renewal now available for certain consumer and medical-debt judgments. The guide on renewing a California judgment covers both.
What the employer must do
CCP 706.104 imposes two duties on an employer served with an earnings withholding order.
Within 10 days — subdivision (a): deliver to the judgment debtor
- a copy of the earnings withholding order;
- the notice to employee of earnings withholding;
- a copy of the form the debtor may use to make a claim of exemption; and
- a copy of the form the debtor may use to provide a financial statement.
If the debtor is no longer employed there and no earnings are owed, no delivery is required.
Note how this duty is enforced. The employer "is not subject to any civil liability for failure to comply with this subdivision" — but "nothing in this subdivision limits the power of a court to hold the employer in contempt of court for failure to comply."
No damages claim, but contempt is available.
Within 15 days — subdivision (b): complete the employer's return on the levying officer's form and mail it first-class to the levying officer. Where the order is ineffective, the employer "shall state in the employer's return that the order will not be complied with for this reason and shall return the order to the levying officer."
Claiming an exemption
CCP 706.105(a): a judgment debtor may claim an exemption under CCP 706.051 where either
(1) No prior hearing has been held with respect to the earnings withholding order. (2) There has been a material change in circumstances since the time of the last prior hearing.
How — subdivision (b): by filing with the levying officer an original and one copy of both the claim of exemption and the financial statement. Both documents, not one.
What happens next — subdivision (c): the levying officer promptly sends the judgment creditor, by first-class mail to the address in the application, a copy of the claim, a copy of the financial statement, and a notice of claim of exemption. That notice must state that
- the earnings withholding order will be terminated, or modified to reflect the amount of earnings claimed to be exempt, unless a notice of opposition to the claim of exemption is filed with the levying officer by the judgment creditor within 10 days after the date of the notice.
The default runs in the debtor's favour. Silence from the creditor for 10 days ends or reduces the withholding without a hearing.
And filing early matters. Getting the claim in so the employer has actual notice before the close of business on the 29th day pushes the withholding period out to day 45 under CCP 706.022 — so the claim is resolved before any money is taken.
The sequence
| Day | What happens | Section |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Earnings withholding order served on the employer | 706.020 |
| by 10 | Employer delivers the order, notice and both forms to the debtor | 706.104(a) |
| by 15 | Employer files the employer's return with the levying officer | 706.104(b) |
| by 29 | Debtor's claim of exemption filed, with actual notice to the employer, to push the start date | 706.022, 706.105 |
| 30 | Withholding begins — or 45, if the claim landed in time | 706.022 |
| +10 from the notice | Creditor's opposition due, or the order is terminated or modified | 706.105(c) |
How California compares
| California | Washington | Federal floor — CCP context | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cap | lesser of 20% of disposable earnings, or 40% above 48× minimum wage | per RCW 6.27 | 25% under federal law |
| Minimum wage used | local where higher than state | state | federal |
| Exclusive procedure | yes — CCP 706.020 | per statute | — |
| Delay before withholding | 30 days, or 45 with a timely exemption claim | per statute | — |
| Employer must hand the debtor exemption forms | yes, within 10 days | per statute | — |
| Creditor's deadline to oppose an exemption claim | 10 days, or the order falls | per statute | — |
California's 20 percent ceiling is materially lower than the 25 percent federal maximum, and formula (2)'s protected floor — 48 times the applicable minimum hourly wage each week — protects lower earners entirely.
A short checklist
If you are collecting
- Use this chapter. No other judicial procedure reaches wages, apart from a support assignment.
- Calculate against the right minimum wage — the local one, if the debtor works somewhere it exceeds the state figure.
- Expect nothing for 30 days, and 45 if an exemption claim is filed in time.
- Diary 10 days from any notice of claim of exemption. Miss it and the order is terminated or modified without a hearing.
- Watch the life of the judgment. An earnings withholding order cannot be enforced past the CCP 683.020 period.
If your wages are being garnished
- Read what your employer gives you — the order, the notice, and two forms, due within 10 days of service on them.
- File the claim of exemption and the financial statement together with the levying officer. Both are required.
- File fast. If your employer has actual notice before the close of business on the 29th day, withholding does not start until day 45.
- Run the numbers yourself. If your weekly disposable earnings do not exceed 48 times the applicable minimum hourly wage, formula (2) produces nothing to withhold.
- If circumstances change later, you can claim again — CCP 706.105(a)(2) allows a fresh claim after a material change.
Where these sections live
- CCP 683.020 — Ten years to enforce a judgment
- CCP 683.120 — Renewal and the extended period
- CCP 695.010 — Property subject to enforcement
- CCP 699.510 — Issuance of a writ of execution
- CCP 703.010 — Exemptions generally
- CCP 706.010 — The Wage Garnishment Law
- CCP 706.020 — Exclusive procedure for reaching earnings
- CCP 706.022 — The withholding period
- CCP 706.050 — The maximum amount subject to levy
- CCP 706.104 — Employer's duties
- CCP 706.105 — Claim of exemption
- CCP 708.110 — Examination of the judgment debtor
This page explains what the Code says. It isn't legal advice, and the Judicial Council forms, the published exemption amounts and the applicable minimum wage figures are outside what this site reproduces.