Orange — Earnings Withholding Order (WG-02)

Source: http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/wg002.pdf

WG-002 ATTORNEY OR PARTY WITHOUT ATTORNEY: STATE BAR NO.: NAME: LEVYING OFFICER (name and address): FIRM NAME: STREET ADDRESS: CITY: STATE: ZIP CODE: TELEPHONE NO.: FAX NO.: EMAIL ADDRESS: ATTORNEY FOR (name): SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF STREET ADDRESS: MAILING ADDRESS: CITY: ZIP CODE: BRANCH NAME:

PLAINTIFF/PETITIONER:

DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT: EARNINGS WITHHOLDING ORDER LEVYING OFFICER FILE NO.: COURT CASE NO.: (Wage Garnishment) EMPLOYEE: KEEP YOUR COPY OF THIS LEGAL PAPER. EMPLEADO: GUARDE ESTE PAPEL OFICIAL. EMPLOYER: Enter the following date to assist your recordkeeping. Date this order was received by employer (specify the date of personal delivery by levying officer or registered process server or the date mail receipt was signed): TO THE EMPLOYER REGARDING YOUR EMPLOYEE: Name and address of employer Name and address of employee

Social Security No. on form WG-035 unknown

1. A judgment creditor has obtained this order to collect a court judgment against your employee. You are directed to withhold part of the earnings of the employee (see instructions on page 2 of this form). Pay the withheld sums to the levying officer (name and address above). If the employee works for you now, you must give the employee a copy of this order and Employee Instructions (form WG-003) within 10 days after receiving this order. Complete Employer's Return (form WG-005) and mail it to the levying officer within 15 days after receiving this order. You must do so even if the employee no longer works for you.

2. The total amount due is: $ Count 30 calendar days from the date when you were served with this order. Do not withhold earnings payable for any pay period that ends before the 30th day. Do withhold from earnings that are payable for any pay period ending on or after that 30th day. If you receive notice that the employee has filed a claim of exemption, read the Instructions to Employer on page 2 of this form for more information about calculating the start of the withholding period. Continue withholding for all pay periods until you withhold the amount due. The levying officer will notify you of an assessment you should withhold in addition to the amount due. Do not withhold more than the total of these amounts. Never withhold any earnings payable before the beginning of the earnings withholding period.

3. The judgment was entered in the court on (date): The judgment creditor (if different from the plaintiff) is (name):

4. The Instructions to Employer on page 2 of this form tell you how much of the employee's earnings to withhold each payday and answer other questions you may have. Date:

   (TYPE OR PRINT NAME) (SIGNATURE)
   LEVYING OFFICER REGISTERED PROCESS SERVER

Judicial Council of California, courts.ca.gov Rev. January 1, 2026, Mandatory Form Earnings Withholding Order WG-002, Page 1 of 2 Code Civ. Proc., §§ 706.022, 706.108, 706.125 (Wage Garnishment)

INSTRUCTIONS TO EMPLOYER WG-002 ON EARNINGS WITHHOLDING ORDERS The instructions in paragraph 1 on page 1 of this form describe your initial State law limits how much of an employee's earnings can be withheld. duties to provide information to your employee and the levying officer. These limits are based on the employee's disposable earnings, not their gross pay or take-home pay.Your other duties are TO WITHHOLD THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF EARNINGS (if any) and PAY IT TO THE LEVYING OFFICER during the (A) To determine the CORRECT AMOUNT OF EARNINGS TO BE withholding period. WITHHELD (if any), first compute the employee's disposable earnings. The withholding period is the period covered by Earnings Withholding Earnings include any money (whether called wages, salary, commissions, Order (this order). The withholding period begins 30 calendar days after bonuses, or anything else) that is paid by an employer to an employee for you were served with the order and continues until you have withheld the personal services. Vacation or sick pay is subject to withholding as it is total amount due, plus additional amounts for costs and interest (which will received by the employee. Tips are generally not included as earnings be listed in a levying officer's notice). However, if the employee files a because they are not paid by the employer. claim of exemption and notifies you of the filing no later than 29 days after you were served with Earnings Withholding Order, then the withholding Disposable earnings are the earnings left after subtracting the part of the period begins 45 days after you were served with Earnings Withholding earnings a state or federal law requires an employer to withhold. Generally Order. these required deductions are (1) federal income tax, (2) federal social security, (3) state income tax, (4) state disability insurance, andThe withholding period may end sooner if (1) you receive a written notice (5) payments to public employee retirement systems. Disposable earningssigned by the levying officer specifying an earlier termination date, or will change when the required deductions change.(2) you receive an order of higher priority (explained on page 2 of Employer's Return (form WG-005)). (B) After the employee's disposable earnings are known, calculate the You are entitled to rely on and must obey all written notices signed by the withholding amount as shown in Code of Civil Procedure section 706.050. levying officer. You can follow the directions below in (C) or on the California Courts Self- Help website (selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/guide-earnings-withholding-orders- Employer's Return (form WG-005) describes several situations that could employers). You will need to know the amount of the minimum wage in the affect the withholding period for this order. If you receive more than one location where the employee works. Earnings Withholding Order during a withholding period, review form WG-005 for instructions. (C) Calculate the maximum amount that may be withheld from the employee's disposable earnings, which is the lesser of the following twoIf the employee stops working for you, the Earnings Withholding Order amounts:ends after no amounts are withheld for a continuous 180-day period. If withholding ends because the earnings are subject to an order of higher 20 percent of disposable earnings for that week; or priority, the Earnings Withholding Order ends after a continuous two-year 40 percent of the amount by which the employee's disposable period during which no amounts are withheld under the order. Return the earnings that week exceed the applicable minimum wage. If there is Earnings Withholding Order to the levying officer with a statement a local minimum wage in effect in the location where the employeeexplaining why it is being returned. works that exceeds the state minimum wage at the time the earnings WHAT TO DO WITH THE MONEY are payable, the local minimum wage is the applicable minimum wage.The amounts withheld during the withholding period must be paid to the levying officer by the 15th day of the next month after each payday. If you To calculate the correct amount, follow the steps below: wish to pay more frequently than monthly, each payment must be made Step 1: Determine the applicable minimum wage per pay period.within 10 days after the close of the pay period. • For a daily or weekly pay period, multiply the applicable hourlyInclude the case number, levying officer's file number (if different from the minimum wage by 48.case number), and the employee's name on each payment to ensure the money is applied to the correct account. For a biweekly pay period, multiply the applicable hourly

eriod, multiply the applicable hourlyInclude the case number, levying officer's file number (if different from the minimum wage by 48.case number), and the employee's name on each payment to ensure the money is applied to the correct account. For a biweekly pay period, multiply the applicable hourly minimum wage by 96. WHAT IF YOU STILL HAVE QUESTIONS? For a semimonthly pay period, multiply the applicable hourly The garnishment law is contained in the Code of Civil Procedure minimum wage by 104.beginning with section 706.010. Sections 706.022, 706.025, 706.050, and 706.104 explain the employer's duties. For a monthly pay period, multiply the applicable hourly minimum wage by 208.The Federal Wage Garnishment Law and federal rules provide the basic protections on which the California law is based. Inquiries about the Step 2: Subtract the amount from Step 1 from the employee's disposable federal law will be answered by mail, telephone, or personal interview at earnings during that pay period. any office of the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor. Step 3: If the amount from Step 2 is less than zero, do not withhold anyThe Wage and Hour Division's contact information is available at dol.gov/ money from the employee's earnings.agencies/whd/contact. Step 4: If the amount from Step 2 is greater than zero, multiply that COMPUTATION INSTRUCTIONS amount by 0.40. Code of Civil Procedure section 706.050 explains how to determine the Step 5: If the amount from Step 4 is lower than 20 percent of the amount to withhold (if anything) depending on the employee's disposable employee's disposable earnings, withhold this amount. If it is greater than earnings, which are calculated based on the employee's pay period and 20 percent of the employee's disposable earnings, withhold 20 percent of the applicable hourly minimum wage. This calculation is summarized in the disposable earnings. the next section of this form and on the California Courts self-help website (selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/guide-earnings-withholding-orders-employers). Occasionally, the employee's earnings will also be subject to a Wage and Earnings Assignment Order, an order available from family law THESE COMPUTATION INSTRUCTIONS APPLY UNDER NORMAL courts for child, spousal, or family support. The amount required to be CIRCUMSTANCES. THEY DO NOT APPLY TO ORDERS FOR THE withheld for that order should be deducted from the amount to be SUPPORT OF A SPOUSE, FORMER SPOUSE, OR CHILD. withheld for this order. IMPORTANT WARNINGS

1. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW TO FIRE THE EMPLOYEE BECAUSE OF EARNINGS WITHHOLDING ORDERS FOR THE PAYMENT OF ONLY ONE INDEBTEDNESS. No matter how many orders you receive, so long as they all relate to a single judgment (no matter how many debts are represented in that judgment), the employee may not be fired.
2. IT IS ILLEGAL TO AVOID AN EARNINGS WITHHOLDING ORDER BY POSTPONING OR ADVANCING THE PAYMENT OF EARNINGS. The employee's pay period must not be changed to prevent the order from taking effect.
3. IT IS ILLEGAL NOT TO PAY AMOUNTS WITHHELD FOR THE EARNINGS WITHHOLDING ORDER TO THE LEVYING OFFICER. Your duty is to pay the money to the levying officer who will pay the money in accordance with the law that applies to this case. IF YOU VIOLATE ANY OF THESE LAWS YOU MAY BE HELD LIABLE TO PAY CIVIL DAMAGES AND YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO CRIMINAL PROSECUTION!

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