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25% of disposable earnings, 10% if the employee is head of household. Cannot withhold if earnins are less than 30 times the federal minimum wage in a week ($309 in a two week pay period, $669.50 in a month). | Gross earnings less deductions required by law. | Set by the court for a period not less than 30 days and not to exceed 180 days. |
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50% of disposable earnings, increased by 5% if 12 weeks in arrears and 10% if employee does not support a second family. | Gross earnings less deducitons required by law. | No expiration date set. The University must wihthold until release is received. |
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Amount is based on exemptions. Visit http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1494.pdf to determine exemption amount. | Gross earnings less deductions that were in place at the time the levy was received. Voluntary increases to deduction amounts or deductions added after levy is received are subject to the levy. | No expiration date set. The University must wihthold until release is received. |
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Amount is set by order, up to 100% of disposable earnings. | Gross earnings less deductions required by law. | Set by the court for a period not less than 30 days and not to exceed 180 days. |
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No maximum. Amount to withhold is set by bankruptcy trustee. | Gross earnings less deductions required by law. | No expiration date set. The University must wihthold until release is received. |
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15% of disposable earnings | Gross earnings less deductions required by law. US Department of Education orders allow both required deductions and health insurance premiums. | No expiration date set. The University must wihthold until release is received. |
- Student Loan Garnishments
- Child Support Orders
- Family Support Act
- Bankruptcy
- Federal Tax Levy
- Priority of Orders
- Employee Protection from Employer
- Notification to Employee
- Voluntary Wage Withholdings
- Contact Information
Execution/Garnishments Applications should only be accepted in the Central Payroll office. Any other department should refuse to accept and advise the process server that all garnishments must be served through Boone County Circuit Clerk and to 121 University Hall, Columbia, MO 65211.
Once the Central Payroll office has received an execution/garnishment order they will process it and forward notification of the order to the employee's campus payroll office. It is the campus payroll office's responsibility to contact the employee and let them know a current withholding order is in place.
There are deadlines set forth by the State of Missouri for executing a garnishment. Once a garnishment is received it must be processed and payroll withholding will begin and continue until a termination is received or the garnishment expires. The Central payroll office will send out notifications on the garnishments received every other Friday following a BIW payday, regardless of the employee's pay cycle. This gives the payroll office at least 4 days to contact the employee and to explain the availability and function of the Head of Household (HOH) form. If a Head of Household form is applicable, the payroll office will need to forward the original notarized copy to the Central payroll office and also advise the payroll office via email or phone to advise them to set the garnishment limitations to 10% indicating that the employee is Head of Household. This step must be done the Thursday before a Wednesday BIW Payday, otherwise, the employee has missed the deadline and the deduction amount will be set at 25%. The central payroll will send MON garnishment notifications to the campus payroll office on the same schedule as the BIW, except when a MON garnishment falls too late to make it with a BIW payday and the deduction must take place during that MON pay period.
Head of Household forms expire every six months employees must complete a new Head of Household form for each six month period.
They are valid from March 1st of each year until August 31st and from September 1st through February 28th. If the employee has a garnishment running during this time period and they fail to renew their form, the withholding order will increase from the 10% withholding to a 25% withholding.
By law, regular garnishments are only served for a term less than 180 days at a time. If at the end of the 180 days the garnishment order has not been satisfied, the petitioner will serve the garnishment again for another period of time not to exceed 180 days. Some garnishments go on for years having been served many times and often with a fee, extending the balance on the garnishment. It is never safe to assume a garnishment is paid in full until we receive a release from the Boone County Circuit Clerk.
30-180 Day Garnishments served by the State of Missouri and the Department of Labor Relations often do not follow the same limitations; they can be served from 10%-100% withholding from the employee's disposable pay.
When more than one creditor garnishment is served, comply with the earnings withholding order that you received first.
Student Loan Garnishments
A garnishment for a student loan can be issued by the Federal Department of Education (DOE) or by a designated State Guarantee agency. 1991 legislation authorized the government to use an administrative process rather than obtain a court judgment to collect on delinquent student loans owed.
Any payroll office can receive a student loan garnishment via mail. The payroll office should forward these orders directly to the Central Payroll office. These orders are limited to 15% of an employee's disposable earnings. A Head of Household Form is not applicable since student loans are set at 15%. (Note: Certain existing student loan garnishments will continue at the old rate of 10% until a notice is received from the issuer). If an employee has more than 1 student loan, both withholding orders will be in effect at the same time withholding at a rate of 15% for the first order received and 10% for the second order received.
Student loans are a continuing withholding order; they do not expire until they are paid in full. Therefore, if another withholding order comes in after a student loan, no withholding will take place unless it is a Child Support order or a Tax Levy.
Child Support Orders
Child Support orders are the highest priority order. These orders can be served in person, via phone or fax and are effective the payday following being served. The Central payroll office will send notification if receiving these orders to the campus payroll office on the Friday following a BIW payday to be effective the next payday. This gives the employee (4) days notification in case they have paperwork terminating this order. There is no paperwork to be completed by the employee, the terms of the agreement between the state child support withholding agency and the employee can only be amended by the child support agency. There is usually a case worker assigned to each case along with a contact number, the name and number can be located on the second page of a typical support order. Most states have a payment processing center that handles all the incoming payments. If an employee has a question the Family Support Payment Center can handle most inquiries. The address for the State of Missouri is: Family Support Payment Center P O Box 109001 Jefferson City, MO 65110-9001 and the number for the employee to contact is 1-866-313-9960. The employee will need to give the operator their Case number or their Social Security number for verification.
There is not a limit on how many child support orders can be accepted at a time. Each order is accepted and processed in the order it is received. All orders are in place for withholding until an amendment or termination is received.
The University of Missouri places a $6 administrative fee on each employee that has a child support withheld. This fee is withheld the first payroll of each month.
Child Support is withheld from every paycheck that the employee receives. You can figure the amount that will be withheld by taking the monthly support obligation amount times 12 (months in a year) and divide by 26 (paychecks in a years time). The University will not vary this schedule to accommodate individual requests.
Family Support Act
In 1988 a law was passed that mandates immediate wage withholding, unless courts find that there is good cause not to require such withholding, or there is a written agreement between both parties requiring an alternative arrangement.
Guidelines for child support award amounts, which requires states to use guidelines to determine the amount of support for each family, unless they are rebutted by a written finding that applying guidelines would be inappropriate to the case.
Bankruptcy
We receive two types of bankruptcy notifications in the Central Payroll office. These notifications come from a variety of sources but, always originate following a court proceeding.
Once an individual files for bankruptcy, they are granted an automatic stay and the payroll office is notified to discontinue the withholding. If a campus payroll office receives a notification of bankruptcy, the original copy must be forwarded to the Central Payroll office.
The second type of bankruptcy order is a reorganization of debt for Chapter 13 repayment plans. The Bankruptcy District Court notifies the Central Payroll office that an agreement of repayment has been met. The Central payroll office will set up the withholding and forward the payments withheld from the employee's pay.
Federal Tax Levy
A federal tax levy is a wage attachment issued by the IRS to collect past due federal income tax. The IRS issues a federal tax levy after all other efforts to collect the unpaid taxes has failed.
The Central payroll office will receive a form 668-Wc Notice of levy on salary, wages and other income, requiring the central payroll office to withhold the remaining income from the employee after the employees current taxes are paid and the employees allowance is determined.
The Central Payroll office notifies the campus payroll office when a federal tax levy has been received. The campus payroll office needs to contact the employee and have the employee complete part 3 for the IRS, part 4 for the employer and parts 2 and 5 are for the taxpayer to keep and the employer will keep Part 1. The employee must be contacted within 3 working days of receiving the tax levy notification. The tax levy will be in effect the next pay period and unless a release is received from the IRS, the withholding order will continue.
Tax levies are not based on a percentage of the employee's pay and they are not set an automatic fixed amount. The taxpayer is given an allowance by the IRS unless the taxpayer has made other payment arrangements. The Central Payroll office will only process payment agreements that come from the IRS and state the employer is required to withhold.
Priority of Orders
- Child Support
- Federal Tax Levy
- State Tax Levy
- Creditor and Student Loan Garnishments
Employee Protection from Employer
An employer may not discharge from employment, refuse to employ, or take disciplinary action against an individual just because the employee is subject
to wage withholding.
Notification to Employee
The Central Payroll office will notify the campus payroll office and give the employee time to complete any paperwork applicable. However, this is a courtesy of the payroll department, not a requirement. The Central Payroll office is not required by law to contact the employee. Refunds will not be granted if we are unable to notify the employee before withholdings begin.
Voluntary Wage Withholdings
The university does not comply with voluntary wage withholdings. An order must be received by the Central Payroll Office before wage withholding can begin.
Contact Information
If you are unsure how to classify your garnishment or have any questions regarding the handling of your wage withholding please do not hesitate to contact The Central Payroll Office.
Office of the Controller
Central Payroll Office
1105 Carrie Francke
Suite 108
Columbia, MO 65211
(573) 882-6730
(573) 884-0048 (fax)
Reviewed 2019-08-05