(a) No employer shall defer or accelerate any payment of earnings to an employee with the intent to defeat or diminish the judgment creditor's rights under an earnings withholding order issued pursuant to the procedures provided by this chapter.
§ 706.153.Deferral Or Acceleration of Payment With Intent to Defeat of Diminish Creditor's Rights
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 5. Wage Garnishment · Article 7. Administration and Enforcement · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 706.153 bars an employer from deferring or accelerating an employee's earnings with intent to defeat or reduce a creditor's rights under an earnings withholding order, and lets the creditor sue an employer who violates that rule to recover what should have been withheld.
Full Text of § 706.153
(b) If an employer violates this section, the judgment creditor may bring a civil action against the employer to recover the amount that would have been withheld and paid over pursuant to this chapter had the employer not violated this section. The remedy provided by this subdivision is not exclusive.
Plain-English Summary
A garnishment order works only if earnings arrive on their normal schedule; an employer who could quietly speed up or delay paydays might defeat the order without ever refusing to comply with it on paper. This section closes that gap: no employer may defer or accelerate payment of earnings with intent to defeat or diminish a creditor's rights under an earnings withholding order.
Violating it exposes the employer to a civil suit by the creditor, who can recover the amount that would have been withheld and paid over had the employer played it straight. That remedy doesn't preclude any other remedy the creditor might have; it's additional, not exclusive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an employer dodge a wage garnishment by changing when it pays the employee?
No. Section 706.153 bars deferring or accelerating earnings payments with intent to defeat or reduce a creditor's rights under the order.
What can a creditor do if an employer manipulates pay timing this way?
Sue the employer to recover the amount that should have been withheld and paid over, a remedy that doesn't exclude other available remedies.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.
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: employer manipulating pay schedule to avoid garnishment california