12-807.Failure of employer to appear.

Section 12-807 gives creditors a way to hold an unresponsive employer accountable. If the employer does not appear and answer as Part 8 requires, the court may enter a conditional judgment against the employer for the amount due on the judgment against the debtor. That is not the end of the matter: a summons to confirm the conditional judgment then issues, returnable 21 to 40 days after it is issued, served the same way as the original summons -- as Supreme Court Rule 105 provides for a notice of additional relief on a defaulted party -- and commanding the employer to show cause why the judgment should not be made final.

If the employer, after being served with that confirming summons (or after being notified under subsection (b)), still fails to appear and answer, the court confirms the judgment for the full amount owed on the underlying judgment and awards costs against the employer. But if the employer does appear and answer, the case proceeds like any other wage deduction dispute -- the conditional judgment does not automatically become final just because it was entered once.

Subsection (b) addresses an employer who cannot be reached at all: one who becomes a non-resident, leaves the state, or conceals themselves so the confirming summons cannot be served. In that situation, the creditor or its agent may file an affidavit like the ones used for non-resident defendants in attachment cases, notify the employer the same way a non-resident attachment defendant is notified, and then proceed against the employer as though personal service of the confirming summons had occurred.