Wage Garnishment in France: A Complete Employer’s Payroll Guide for 2026

Introduction: wage garnishment, an obligation for the employer

Wage garnishment (saisie sur salaire or saisie sur rémunérations) is a legal procedure enabling a creditor to recover sums owed directly from a debtor’s salary. For the employer, this procedure entails strict obligations regarding the calculation, withholding and remittance of the sums to creditors.

The wage garnishment scale (barème des saisies sur rémunérations) is updated each year in accordance with Article R.3252-2 of the French Labour Code. This scale defines the attachable portions (fractions saisissables) according to progressive brackets, guaranteeing the employee a subsistence minimum. This complete guide sets out the procedure, the calculation of withholdings and the employer’s obligations, with concrete examples based on 2025 values.

The legal framework for wage garnishment

Legal basis

Wage garnishment is governed by Articles L.3252-1 to L.3252-13 and R.3252-1 to R.3252-49 of the French Labour Code. It may only be implemented after an attempted conciliation before the enforcement judge (juge de l’exécution) of the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire), save in certain cases (child/spousal support, tax claims).

The procedure unfolds in several stages:

Creditor’s application to the judicial court;
Conciliation hearing between the debtor and the creditor;
Where conciliation fails, a garnishment order (acte de saisie) notified to the employer by the court registry (greffe);
The employer’s obligation to carry out the monthly withholdings.

Notification to the employer

The employer receives a garnishment order (acte de saisie) from the registry of the judicial court. This order specifies the amount of the claim, the identity of the creditor and the withholding terms. The employer has 15 days to provide the registry with information on the employee’s situation (remuneration, other garnishments in progress, declared dependants).

Important: an employer who fails to carry out the withholdings risks being declared personally liable (débiteur personnel) for the sums owed, in addition to potential damages.

The 2025 wage garnishment scale

The progressive garnishment brackets

The scale in force (revalued on 1 January each year — check the applicable thresholds on service-public.fr) sets the attachable portions of the annual net remuneration according to the following brackets (annual amounts for a person with no dependants):

Bracket 1: up to €4,370 — attachable at 1/20, i.e. €218.50 maximum
Bracket 2: from €4,370 to €8,520 — attachable at 1/10, i.e. €415.00 maximum
Bracket 3: from €8,520 to €12,690 — attachable at 1/5, i.e. €834.00 maximum
Bracket 4: from €12,690 to €16,820 — attachable at 1/4, i.e. €1,032.50 maximum
Bracket 5: from €16,820 to €20,970 — attachable at 1/3, i.e. €1,383.33 maximum
Bracket 6: from €20,970 to €25,200 — attachable at 2/3, i.e. €2,820.00 maximum
Bracket 7: above €25,200 — attachable in full

These amounts are increased by €1,680 per year (i.e. €140 per month) for each dependant of the debtor employee.

Monthly calculation

For monthly application, the annual thresholds must be divided by 12. The 2025 monthly brackets are therefore:

Up to €364.17: attachable at 1/20
From €364.17 to €710.00: attachable at 1/10
From €710.00 to €1,057.50: attachable at 1/5
From €1,057.50 to €1,401.67: attachable at 1/4
From €1,401.67 to €1,747.50: attachable at 1/3
From €1,747.50 to €2,100.00: attachable at 2/3
Above €2,100.00: attachable in full

The non-attachable base salary (SBI)

Definition and calculation

The SBI (salaire brut insaisissable — non-attachable base) corresponds to the employee’s net remuneration after deduction of mandatory social security contributions and pay-as-you-earn withholding tax (prélèvement à la source, PAS). It is on this net base that the garnishment scale applies.

In practice, the SBI is calculated as follows:

SBI = Gross remuneration – Mandatory employee contributions – PAS

Included in the remuneration taken into account are: base salary, bonuses, overtime, benefits in kind, and paid-leave allowances. Excluded are: reimbursement of professional expenses, severance pay (within certain limits) and family allowances.

The absolutely non-attachable portion

Whatever the situation, the employee must retain a subsistence minimum corresponding to the amount of the RSA (income support) for a single person, i.e. €635.71 per month (RSA amount for a single person, revalued each year — check the value in force). This portion is absolutely non-attachable, even where multiple garnishments are combined.

Reference: Article L.3252-5 of the French Labour Code and Article L.262-2 of the French Social Action and Families Code.

Full example of a wage garnishment calculation

Example data

Consider an employee with the following characteristics:

Monthly net salary after contributions and PAS: €2,300
No dependants
Ordinary claim (no support obligation)

Calculation of the monthly attachable amount

Application of the 2025 monthly scale:

Bracket 1: €364.17 × 1/20 = €18.21
Bracket 2: (€710.00 – €364.17) × 1/10 = €345.83 × 1/10 = €34.58
Bracket 3: (€1,057.50 – €710.00) × 1/5 = €347.50 × 1/5 = €69.50
Bracket 4: (€1,401.67 – €1,057.50) × 1/4 = €344.17 × 1/4 = €86.04
Bracket 5: (€1,747.50 – €1,401.67) × 1/3 = €345.83 × 1/3 = €115.28
Bracket 6: (€2,100.00 – €1,747.50) × 2/3 = €352.50 × 2/3 = €235.00
Bracket 7: (€2,300 – €2,100) × 1 = €200.00

Total attachable = 18.21 + 34.58 + 69.50 + 86.04 + 115.28 + 235.00 + 200.00 = €758.61

Check: the employee retains €2,300 – €758.61 = €1,541.39, which is above the non-attachable minimum of €635.71. The withholding is therefore valid.

Impact of dependants

If this same employee had 2 dependants, the threshold of each bracket would be increased by 2 × €140 = €280 per month. The brackets would become:

Bracket 1: up to €644.17 (€364.17 + €280)
Bracket 2: from €644.17 to €990.00
And so on…

The attachable amount would then be reduced, giving greater protection to the employee supporting a family.

The special case of support payments

An exception to the progressive scale

Support payments (pension alimentaire — child/spousal maintenance) benefit from a derogatory regime under Article L.3252-5 of the French Labour Code. Unlike ordinary claims, support payments may be withheld beyond the attachable amount, provided the employee is left with the subsistence minimum (single-person RSA = €635.71/month).

Example: If the employee earns €2,300 net and must pay support of €800, the employer may withhold €800 because the employee retains €2,300 – €800 = €1,500, an amount above the subsistence minimum of €635.71.

However, if the support payment were €1,800, the employer could only withhold a maximum of €2,300 – €635.71 = €1,664.29.

The priority of support payments

Where an ordinary garnishment and a support payment coincide, the support payment takes priority. It is withheld first, and any remaining attachable balance is distributed among the other creditors according to the order of priority.

The procedure from the employer’s side

Obligations on receipt of the garnishment order

Upon receipt of the registry’s notification, the employer must:

Acknowledge receipt and provide the requested information within 15 days;
Inform the employee of the garnishment being put in place;
Carry out the monthly withholdings from the month following notification;
Remit the sums to the court registry (or directly to the creditor, as applicable) within the month following the withholding;
Report any change in situation (end of contract, change in remuneration).

Handling the employee’s departure

In the event of termination of the employment contract, the employer must:

Apply the garnishment to the final settlement (solde de tout compte: salary, compensatory paid-leave allowances, etc.);
Immediately inform the registry of the end of the contract;
Send the registry the amount of the sums withheld and the details of the final settlement.

Voluntary assignment of salary

Difference from garnishment

Voluntary assignment (cession volontaire) is an act by which the employee himself authorises the employer to deduct part of his salary for the benefit of a creditor. Unlike garnishment, it does not require a court decision but must respect the same attachability limits as the statutory scale.

The assignment must be formalised through a declaration to the registry (greffe) of the judicial court of the employee’s place of residence. The employer may not carry out an assignment on the employee’s simple verbal or written request without this formality.

The third-party attachment notice (ATD) and tax claims

Specific features of the ATD

The third-party attachment notice (avis à tiers détenteur, ATD), now called the administrative third-party attachment (saisie administrative à tiers détenteur, SATD), is a recovery tool used by the tax authorities and social security bodies. It differs from ordinary garnishment in the following respects:

No prior judicial procedure;
Direct notification by the administration to the employer;
Application of the same attachability scale as ordinary garnishments.

The employer must handle the SATD with the same rigour as a judicial garnishment. Failure to comply with this obligation exposes the employer to financial penalties.

Order of priority among creditors

Where several garnishments or SATDs are in progress, the order of priority is as follows:

1. Support payments (super-privilege);
2. Tax claims (SATD) and social security claims;
3. Ordinary claims, in chronological order of notification.

Points of vigilance for the payroll manager

Common errors

Forgetting to increase the brackets for dependants declared by the employee;
Failing to respect the subsistence minimum of €635.71 (single-person RSA 2025);
Confusing net pay with the calculation base for the garnishment (the PAS must be included in the calculation);
Failing to inform the registry where the employee’s situation changes;
Failing to remit the sums within the prescribed deadlines.

Payroll tools and configuration

Most payroll software includes a garnishment management module. It is recommended to:

Check the annual update of the scale in the software;
Configure the dependants for each employee concerned;
Set up an alert for the end of garnishments;
Keep a history of withholdings made and remittances.

FAQ: wage garnishment in payroll

Can the employer refuse to carry out a wage garnishment?

No. Upon receipt of the registry’s notification, the employer is legally required to carry out the withholdings. Refusal or negligence exposes the employer to being declared personally liable for the sums owed to the creditor, in accordance with Article L.3252-10 of the French Labour Code.

How should an employee with several simultaneous garnishments be handled?

Where an employee is subject to several garnishments, the total attachable amount remains unchanged. The various claims share the attachable portion according to the order of priority and the date of notification. Support payments always take priority and may be withheld beyond the ordinary attachable amount, down to the subsistence minimum.

Is severance pay attachable?

Statutory or contractual severance pay (indemnités de licenciement) is in principle not attachable (Article L.3252-3 of the French Labour Code). By contrast, compensatory notice pay and compensatory paid-leave allowances are treated as wages and fall within the garnishment base.

What should be done in the event of a calculation error on a withholding?

In the event of an overpayment, the employer must make a correction the following month by reducing the withholding. In the event of an insufficient withholding, the catch-up must respect the attachability scale. It is advisable to inform the registry of any error and correction made.

Does wage garnishment apply during sick leave?

Yes, the garnishment continues to apply to subrogated daily social security allowances (IJSS) or to top-up allowances paid by the employer. If the employee receives the IJSS directly from the CPAM, the employer is only required to withhold on the portion of remuneration it pays (the employer top-up). In all cases, the subsistence minimum of €635.71 must be respected.

Wage Garnishment in France: A Complete Employer's Payroll Guide for 2026