Job Discussion Forums

[Kaspar Hauser]

Whats it called when a court orders money from your wages to be taken�like to pay a debt or somethion? I always though the word was �garnish� but some body told me that If you garnish your wages it means that you decorated your paycheck with a sliced tomatoe or pickle or maybe one of those little umbrellas they put in tropical drinks and that actually the word to use is �garnishee�

[IanN]

It is called an 'Attachment of Earnings Order'.

That is the official name. Perhaps 'garnish' is slang.

Ian.

[Guy Courchesne]

In Canada, they use the term 'to garnish' to hold back part of your wages after a court order. A 'garnishee' would then be the victim of such a practice. The noun is garnishment.

This happened to a high school friend when he didn't pay his child support...bad boy he was.

[Stephen Jones]

The SOED gives both 'garnishee' and 'garnish' as verbs that have this meaning. Webster only gives 'garnishee' so it looks as if this is another British versus American thing, with the Canadians on the side of the Brits this time.

[carnac]

In AE, "to garnish" is to deduct from wages by court order. ("To have one's pay garnished"). The ""garnishee" is the person from whom the money is taken; the person or entity who has caused this to be performed (eg, former spouse or landlord) is the "garnisher". The field of legal study concerning this is termed "garnishment law". Verb garnish/garnished/garnished.

[Stephen Jones]

The American Heritage gives 'garnish' with the same sense as 'garnishee', so it may just be an omission in Merriam Webster.