Except for an earning assignment order for support, the earnings of an employee shall not be required to be withheld by an employer for payment of a debt by means of any judicial procedure other than pursuant to this chapter.
§ 706.020.Generally
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 5. Wage Garnishment · Article 2. General Provisions · Last amended 1994 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 706.020 makes the earnings withholding order the exclusive way to garnish an employee's wages for a debt in California, cutting off any other judicial collection method except an earnings assignment order for child, spousal, or former-spousal support.
Full Text of § 706.020
Plain-English Summary
This section sets the boundary line for the entire chapter. Outside of a support assignment order, no other judicial procedure can force an employer to withhold an employee's earnings to pay a debt. If a creditor wants to reach wages, the earnings withholding order process this chapter creates is the only door in.
That exclusivity protects employees from being subject to competing or inconsistent collection methods aimed at the same paycheck. It also gives employers a single, predictable procedure to follow, spelled out in the sections that come next: how an order gets served (§ 706.021), how long withholding lasts (§ 706.022), and how much can be taken (§ 706.050).
The one carve-out is support. An earnings assignment order for support, issued under separate family law and probate provisions rather than this chapter, sits alongside the earnings withholding order framework and gets its own priority treatment under § 706.031.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a creditor garnish my wages through some method other than an earnings withholding order?
No. Section 706.020 makes the earnings withholding order the only judicial procedure available for garnishing wages to collect a debt, apart from support assignment orders.
Can my employer fire me just because my wages are being garnished?
This chapter governs how much gets withheld and how employers process withholding orders — it doesn't itself address job protection. Separate California employment law limits an employer's ability to terminate an employee over a single wage garnishment.
What's the exception to this chapter being the exclusive garnishment method?
An earnings assignment order for support, which is issued under family law and probate provisions rather than this chapter, and which § 706.031 addresses directly.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 163, Sec. 46. Effective January 1, 1993. Operative January 1, 1994, by Sec. 161 of Ch. 163.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: exclusive wage garnishment procedure californiacan employer be forced to garnish wages other than court order