New York: Wage Garnishment Limits

Requirements one by one

Governing law

The main income-execution mechanism and its cap are in N.Y. C.P.L.R. §
5231. Priority among competing garnishments is set by § 5234. The
anti-retaliation rule for employees is § 5252. Child and spousal support
income executions run through separate sections, §§ 5241 and 5242.

Maximum that can be garnished

New York's process has two numbers that matter. First, § 5231(b) lets a
creditor issue an income execution demanding "not more than ten percent"
of what the debtor is receiving — this is initially served on the debtor
directly, giving them a chance to pay it themselves. If the debtor
defaults and the execution is served on the employer instead, the actual
amount an employer withholds is capped at the lesser of 25% of disposable
earnings or the amount over 30 times the greater of the federal or state
minimum wage (§ 5231(b)(ii)). And under § 5231(b)(iv), none of this
applies at all to a judgment arising from a medical debt lawsuit brought
by a hospital or a licensed health care professional — that debt simply
can't be collected by wage garnishment in New York.

State rule vs. federal floor

The percentage prong (25%) matches federal law exactly. Where New York
pulls ahead is the minimum-wage floor: instead of federal law's flat 30
times the federal minimum wage, New York uses 30 times whichever is
GREATER, the federal or the New York minimum wage. Since New York's state
minimum wage is well above the $7.25 federal rate, this protects
meaningfully more of a lower-earning worker's paycheck than the bare
federal rule would.

Minimum-wage protected floor

Thirty times the greater of the federal minimum hourly wage (Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938) or the New York State minimum hourly wage set
under Labor Law § 652 — whichever number is bigger at the time the wages
are paid (§ 5231(b)(i)). New York's § 652 minimum wage is not a single
statewide figure: as of January 1, 2026 it is $17.00/hour in New York
City and in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties, and $16.00/hour in
the rest of the state. Because the garnishment floor is 30 times that
rate, more of a downstate worker's pay is shielded (30 × $17.00 = $510 a
week) than an upstate worker's (30 × $16.00 = $480 a week).

Support, tax & student loan debts

Child and spousal support/maintenance are collected through their own
income execution and income deduction order mechanisms under §§ 5241 and
5242, which can reach the higher federal support percentages. If a
debtor's pay is already being deducted for support, § 5231(b)(iii)
reduces the room left for an ordinary judgment creditor's income
execution so the two together don't exceed the 25% ceiling — support
effectively gets first claim on that 25%.

Head-of-household/family exemption

New York doesn't have one. Unlike states that give an extra exemption to
someone supporting a dependent, New York's protective mechanism is the
minimum-wage floor itself (using whichever of the state or federal
minimum wage is higher), which applies the same way to every debtor
regardless of household or dependent status.

Multiple garnishments at once

When two or more executions are delivered to the same enforcement
officer, § 5234(b) pays them out in the order they were delivered — first
in time, first satisfied. Child support is the one exception: a child
support execution automatically jumps ahead of "any other assignment,
levy or process," no matter when it was delivered, and if there's more
than one past-due child support order, the proceeds get split between
them in proportion to each order's share of the combined debt.

Protection from being fired

New York's protection is notably broader than the federal single-debt
rule. Section 5252 bars discharging, laying off, refusing to promote,
disciplining, or refusing to hire someone because ONE OR MORE wage
assignments or income executions have been served — the federal rule
only protects against firing over a single debt, but New York's covers
multiple garnishments too. If your employer fires you over an ordinary
judgment garnishment, your remedy is a civil action for up to six weeks of
lost wages plus reinstatement (§ 5252(2)); the same conduct can also be
punished as contempt of court (Judiciary Law § 753). Section 5252 also
authorizes an added civil penalty of $500 for a first violation and
$1,000 for each one after — but that penalty applies only when the firing
was because of a child- or spousal-support income execution or income
deduction order under §§ 5241 or 5242, and it is paid to the creditor,
not to you.

What trips people up

The initial "10%" demand under § 5231(b) is not the same thing as the
25% ceiling that applies once the execution actually gets levied against
an employer — people sometimes assume 10% is the hard cap on everything,
but it's really the amount of the direct-pay demand sent to the debtor
first. And the medical-debt bar is narrower than "all health-related
debt": it only reaches judgments from lawsuits brought by hospitals
licensed under the Public Health Law or health care professionals
licensed under Title 8 of the Education Law, so a debt collector who
bought a medical bill and sues in its own name may not be covered the
same way — check the actual plaintiff in the underlying judgment.

Common questions

Can a hospital garnish my wages if I don't pay a medical bill?
No, not through a court judgment obtained by the hospital or a licensed
health care professional — New York barred wage garnishment for that
kind of judgment starting in November 2022.

If I already have child support taken out of my paycheck, can a credit
card company also garnish my wages?
Only for whatever room is left under the 25% cap after the support
deduction — the two together can't exceed that ceiling, and support gets
first claim on it.

Can my employer fire me if I have wage garnishments from two different
creditors?
No. Unlike the federal rule, which only protects a single garnishment,
New York's § 5252 protects an employee against discharge for one or more
wage assignments or income executions.

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5231 — "(b) Issuance. Where a judgment debtor is
  receiving or will receive money from any source, an income execution
  for installments therefrom of not more than ten percent thereof may be
  issued and delivered to the sheriff ...; provided, however, that (i) no
  amount shall be withheld from the judgment debtor's earnings pursuant
  to an income execution for any week unless the disposable earnings of
  the judgment debtor for that week exceed the greater of thirty times
  the federal minimum hourly wage prescribed in the Fair Labor Standards
  Act of 1938 or thirty times the state minimum hourly wage prescribed in
  section six hundred fifty-two of the labor law as in effect at the time
  the earnings are payable; (ii) the amount withheld from the judgment
  debtor's earnings pursuant to an income execution for any week shall
  not exceed twenty-five percent of the disposable earnings of the
  judgment debtor for that week, or, the amount by which the disposable
  earnings of the judgment debtor for that week exceed the greater of
  thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage ... or thirty times the
  state minimum hourly wage ..., whichever is less; (iii) if the earnings
  of the judgment debtor are also subject to deductions for alimony,
  support or maintenance for family members or former spouses pursuant to
  section five thousand two hundred forty-one or section five thousand
  two hundred forty-two of this article, the amount withheld from the
  judgment debtor's earnings pursuant to this section shall not exceed
  the amount by which twenty-five percent of the disposable earnings of
  the judgment debtor for that week exceeds the amount deducted from the
  judgment debtor's earnings in accordance with section five thousand two
  hundred forty-one or section five thousand two hundred forty-two of
  this article; and (iv) no amount shall be imposed in judgments arising
  from a medical debt action brought by a hospital licensed under article
  twenty-eight of the public health law or a health care professional
  authorized under title eight of the education law." —
  https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/5231 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5234 — "(b) Priority among execution creditors. Where
  two or more executions or orders of attachment are issued against the
  same judgment debtor or obligor and delivered to the same enforcement
  officer ..., they shall be satisfied out of the proceeds of personal
  property or debt levied upon by the officer ... in the order in which
  they were delivered, such executions for child support shall have
  priority over any other assignment, levy or process. ... Where there is
  more than one past-due child support order, the proceeds shall be
  applied to the orders in proportion to the amount each order's claim
  bears to the combined total." —
  https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/5234 (accessed 2026-07-05)
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5252 — "No employer shall discharge, lay off, refuse to
  promote, or discipline an employee ... because one or more wage
  assignments or income executions have been served ... where any employer
  [discriminates] because of the existence of one or more income
  executions and/or income deduction orders issued pursuant to section
  fifty-two hundred forty-one or fifty-two hundred forty-two of this
  article, the court may direct the payment of a civil penalty not to
  exceed five hundred dollars for the first instance and one thousand
  dollars per instance ... The penalty shall be paid to the creditor ...
  An employee or prospective employee may institute a civil action for
  damages ... Damages recoverable shall not exceed lost wages for six
  weeks and ... the court also may order the reinstatement ... A violation
  of this section may also be punished as a contempt of court pursuant to
  the provisions of section seven hundred fifty-three of the judiciary
  law." —
  https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/5252 (accessed 2026-07-23)
• N.Y. Labor Law § 652 — the state minimum wage that CPLR § 5231(b)(i)
  incorporates; regional as of Jan. 1, 2026: "$17.00 on and after January
  1, 2026" in New York City and in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester
  counties, and "$16.00 on and after January 1, 2026" in the "[r]emainder
  of state." —
  https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/LAB/652 (accessed 2026-07-23)