Louisiana: Wage Garnishment Limits

Requirements one by one

Governing law

The core formula lives in Louisiana's general exemptions-from-seizure statute, R.S. 13:3881(A)(1), not a dedicated garnishment chapter, the same section that also lists exempt personal property (tools of a trade, household goods, one vehicle up to a set equity value). Anti-discharge protection for an ordinary garnishment sits separately in the Labor title, R.S. 23:731. Child and spousal support income assignment runs through its own extensive article, R.S. 46:236.3.

Maximum that can be garnished

Section 13:3881(A)(1)(a) exempts 75% of disposable earnings for any week, "but in no case shall this exemption be less than" an amount equal to 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage. Read the other way, a creditor can reach at most the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above that 30x-minimum-wage floor, the familiar national formula. Louisiana applies this one rule to every ordinary private debt regardless of what kind of transaction created it; there's no separate, narrower track for consumer credit debt the way Alabama or Iowa split their rules.

State rule vs. federal floor

Louisiana's own statute states the identical formula the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act requires, the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage, directly in its own text, rather than leaving a gap for federal law to fill. It doesn't go further than federal law the way California or Colorado do; it matches it exactly.

Minimum-wage protected floor

Thirty times the FEDERAL minimum hourly wage, $7.25, works out to $217.50 for a weekly pay period (scaled up for longer pay periods). Louisiana has no state minimum wage above the federal rate, so unlike states that peg this floor to their own higher state or local minimum wage, Louisiana's floor tracks the federal figure exactly.

Support, tax & student loan debts

Child and spousal support don't cross-reference federal law the way many states' statutes do, Louisiana writes its own percentages directly into § 13:3881(A)(1)(a). A current or past-due CHILD support obligation exempts 50% of disposable earnings (so up to 50% is reachable); a SPOUSAL or former-spousal support obligation exempts 60% (so up to 40% is reachable). That's a genuinely different structure from the federal CCPA's own tiers, which split by whether the obligor is currently supporting another spouse or child (50% reachable) or isn't (60%, rising to 65% with 12+ weeks of arrears), Louisiana splits instead by the TYPE of support obligation itself, and its own statute doesn't build in an extra arrears-based increase. Federal tax debt and defaulted federal student loans proceed under independent federal authority outside this framework entirely; student-loan administrative wage garnishment is capped at 15% of disposable pay under 20 U.S.C. § 1095a.

Head-of-household/family exemption

There isn't one. The 75%/30x-minimum-wage formula applies the same way regardless of how many dependents a debtor supports. Louisiana's other exemptions in the same statute, household goods, one vehicle up to a set equity value, firearms up to $2,500, protect a different pool of property and don't add anything extra to the wage exemption itself.

Multiple garnishments at once

For ordinary creditors, Louisiana runs a single continuing seizure rather than juggling separate simultaneous writs: one garnishment judgment stays in effect "until the indebtedness is paid." A quirk worth knowing: if an employer itself is owed a separate, liquidated debt by the employee, R.S. 13:3925 lets the employer function AS IF it held a prior garnishment, ranking ahead of a later creditor's garnishment until that debt is paid off, but the same section is explicit that this employer-debt ranking "shall not grant a preference over the enforcement of child support." Support withholding is genuinely different: it automatically outranks any ordinary garnishment on the same wages, and if a debtor faces more than one support withholding order at once, the amounts are PRORATED between them rather than fully paying off one before starting the next, with current support (as opposed to arrears) getting priority if there isn't enough to go around.

Protection from being fired

Louisiana extends the federal one-garnishment protection with a real remedy, reinstatement and back pay, not just the ability to complain to a federal agency, for someone fired over a single garnishment or voluntary wage assignment. But it also does something unusual: it spells out a specific numeric line past which firing becomes lawful. Once an employee's earnings are hit by three or more garnishments for unrelated debts within a two-year period, the employer may discharge them (a garnishment tied to a 10+ consecutive-day absence for accident or illness doesn't count toward that total). Child support withholding sits entirely outside that rule, R.S. 46:236.3(J) bars discharging, disciplining, or penalizing an employee over a support withholding duty with no exception for multiple orders, backed by a court-ordered fine of up to $50 a day and mandatory reinstatement or restitution.

What trips people up

It's easy to assume a state that spells out its own percentages for child and spousal support (rather than just citing federal law) is being MORE generous to creditors, since 50% and 60% sound like a lot. In practice Louisiana's numbers land close to the federal tiers, just organized around a different variable, the type of support obligation instead of whether the obligor supports a second family, and without the federal tiers' built-in bump for old arrears. Also worth flagging: Louisiana's "three garnishments in two years" firing threshold under R.S. 23:731(C) is a real, specific rule that most other states simply don't have; federal law alone only protects against discharge for a single debt and says nothing about what happens after a second or third.

Common questions

Does Louisiana protect more of my paycheck than federal law requires for an ordinary debt?
No, Louisiana's own statute states the identical formula the federal CCPA requires (the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount above 30 times the federal minimum wage); it doesn't go further.

Can my employer fire me the first time my wages are garnished?
No, not for a single garnishment or voluntary wage assignment, but Louisiana law explicitly allows discharge once you've been subjected to three or more garnishments for unrelated debts within a two-year period.

If I owe both child support and a credit card judgment at the same time, which one gets paid first?
The child support order, Louisiana law gives a support order preference over any other garnishment proceeding, regardless of which one was filed first.

Statutes and sources

• La. R.S. 13:3881(A)(1)(a) — "Seventy-five percent of his disposable earnings for any week, but in no case shall this exemption be less than an amount in disposable earnings which is equal to thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage... However, the exemption... for a child or children is fifty percent... and... for a spouse or former spouse is sixty percent." — https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/Law.aspx?d=77632 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• La. R.S. 23:731(C) — "No person shall be discharged from employment nor denied employment because of a voluntary assignment or a single garnishment of earnings... A person may, however, be discharged from employment if his earnings are subjected to three or more garnishments for unrelated debts in a two year period..." — https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=83970 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• La. R.S. 13:3925 — "It is the stated intention of this Section that the employer shall be presumed to be one holding a prior garnishment... The provisions of this Section shall not grant a preference over the enforcement of child support." — https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/revised-statutes/title-13/rs-13-3925/ (accessed 2026-07-05)
• La. R.S. 46:236.3(E)(5) — "When two or more orders to withhold income for support are received, the orders shall be prorated... If there are insufficient funds available to satisfy all orders, the orders for current support shall be given priority on a pro rata basis." — https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=100632 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• La. R.S. 46:236.3(H) — "A support order issued pursuant to this Section shall be given preference to any other garnishment proceeding." — https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=100632 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• La. R.S. 46:236.3(J) — "No payor shall discharge, discipline, or otherwise penalize any person ordered to pay support because of the duty to withhold income." — https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/Law.aspx?d=100632 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• 20 U.S.C. § 1095a(a)(1) — "the amount deducted for any pay period may not exceed 15 percent of disposable pay, except that a greater percentage may be deducted with the written consent of the individual involved." — https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title20-section1095a&num=0&edition=prelim (accessed 2026-07-05)