Employees Earnings Record and Wage Garnishments

The employee’s earnings record is a “snapshot” of hours, earnings, gross wages, statutory deductions, voluntary deductions and net pay generated for an employee for a specific pay period. Employee earnings records provide details of the types of hours and earnings paid to an employee. Additionally, employers and employees can view the detail of statutory deductions, including federal and state tax deductions, tax levies, 401(k) and other pretax deductions. Post tax deductions can be viewed as well, such as union dues, after tax reimbursements and after tax insurance deductions.
The employee’s earning record can be viewed in several formats. You can have a per pay earnings record, monthly, quarterly and yearly earnings record. The cumulative column provides the quarter to date and year to date accumulated totals for specific hours, earnings, taxes and deductions. Wages assignments or garnishments are the result of specific agencies imposing a levy against an employee’s salary. Wage garnishments are a mechanism used to collect over due monies owed to an entity for a given debt. In the past, employers would discharge employees with wage assignments for a variety of
reasons. However, the most common reason was the administrative time and cost involved with processing the paperwork involved with garnishments. Additionally, employers looked upon employees with garnishments as being financially unstable and financially irresponsible. Given the unsettling economic picture of present times, discharging employees due to wage assignments is neither prudent or practical. Many hard working people are struggling financially not because they are financially irresponsible, but simply due to a volatile economy. ADP Small Business Services (2006)