Setting Up Garnishments

This chapter provides an overview of garnishments and discusses how to:

Set up garnishments.
Review garnishment processing results.
Calculate interest in garnishment processes.

Understanding Garnishments

When an employee owes money to certain third parties, that person's salary might be garnished. As the employer, you're required to pay part of the employee's salary to the garnisher. Global Payroll for Germany helps you process all the employer tasks involved in handling garnishments. The system determines the correct garnishment amounts, generates the corresponding deductions, and creates bank transfer data.

Viewing Delivered Elements

The PeopleSoft system delivers a query that you can run to view the names of all delivered elements designed for Germany. Instructions for running the query are provided in the PeopleSoft Enterprise Global Payroll 9.0 PeopleBook.

Setting Up Garnishments

This section discusses how to:

Enter basic garnishment information.
Enter garnishment details.
Enter garnishment dependent information.
Enter garnishment income information.
Enter bank transfer information.
Enter garnishment override information.

Pages Used to Set Up Garnishments

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Assign Garnishments DEU - Order	GPDE_GR_EE1	Global Payroll & Absence Mgmt, Payee Data, Garnishments/Court Orders, Assign Garnishments DEU, Order	Define garnishment priority and basic garnishment information.
Assign Garnishments DEU - Detail	GPDE_GR_EE2	Global Payroll & Absence Mgmt, Payee Data, Garnishments/Court Orders, Assign Garnishments DEU, Detail	Define garnishments in more detail.
Assign Garnishments DEU - Dependents	GPDE_GR_EE3	Global Payroll & Absence Mgmt, Payee Data, Garnishments/Court Orders, Assign Garnishments DEU, Dependents	Enter information about dependents.
Assign Garnishments DEU - Income	GPDE_GR_EE4	Global Payroll & Absence Mgmt, Payee Data, Garnishments/Court Orders, Assign Garnishments DEU, Income	Define garnishment disposable income and priority distribution percentage.
Assign Garnishments DEU - Bank Transfer	GPDE_GR_EE5	Global Payroll & Absence Mgmt, Payee Data, Garnishments/Court Orders, Assign Garnishments DEU, Bank Transfer	Enter bank and transfer instructions for a garnishment.
Assign Garnishments DEU - Override	GPDE_GR_EE6	Global Payroll & Absence Mgmt, Payee Data, Garnishments/Court Orders, Assign Garnishments DEU, Override	Enter instructions for overriding an element.

Entering Basic Garnishment Information

Access the Assign Garnishments DEU - Order page.

Garnishment Order

Garnishment Priority	The priority of this garnishment in relation to other garnishments you might have set up for an employee. The lower the number, the higher the priority. So, the system processes a garnishment with a priority of 1 before a garnishment with a priority of 5.
Garnishment Type	Specify whether the garnishment concerns a General order or a Support order.
Garnishment Received Date	The system populates this field with a time stamp.

Garnishment Information

Effective Date	The first valid payroll date.
Pre-Garnishment	Select if you haven't received the garnishment order but your company wants to initiate a pre-garnishment deduction. In accordance with § 845 Section 2 of the German Code of Civil Procedure, a pre-garnishment is permitted for a maximum of 4 weeks. Thereafter, you must convert the pre-garnishment to a garnishment or rescind it. To convert a pre-garnishment to a garnishment, clear this field. If you haven't received the garnishment order after 4 weeks, change the status to Inactive. The employee is reimbursed for the deducted pay.
Entry Type	Enter the entry type for the garnishment element. The default is Deduction.
Element Name	Enter the garnishment element name. The prompt lists all garnishment deduction elements that PeopleSoft delivers. Be aware that the assignment of the deduction is unique. For example, a company receives two different court orders for an employee. The first has priority 1, and the assigned garnishment deduction element is DE_GR_G001. For the second court order, you'd have to assign a deduction element that isn't equal to DE_GR_G001. It's very important to follow this approach to ensure that the process works correctly.

Entering Garnishment Details

Access the Assign Garnishments DEU - Detail page.

Detail

Garnishment Amount	Enter the amount that's to be deducted from the payee's earnings monthly.
Max Garn Amount (maximum garnishment amount)	If the garnishment order specifies a maximum monthly amount, enter that amount.
Interest Rate	Enter the garnishment interest rate deduction element and the percentage.
Garn Processing Fee (garnishment processing fee)	Enter the garnishment processing fee deduction element and the amount.

Entering Garnishment Dependent Information

Access the Assign Garnishments DEU - Dependents page.

Warning! PeopleSoft delivers and maintains the Garnishment Dependents Table. Although you can modify this table, carefully consider the impact of changes.

Dependents

Number of Dependents	Select the number of dependents specified by the garnishment order. Based on that number, legal amounts and percentages appear. Choose from the prompt that lists the number of dependents, the exemption amount, and the percentage.
Dependents Overwrite	This check box applies only to property garnishments. To override the exemptions, select this check box.
Exemption Amount (Par. 850c/1) (exemption amount paragraph 850c/1)	This field appears if the garnishment type is General and the Dependents Overwrite check box is selected.
Exemption Pct (Par. 850c/2) (exemption percentage paragraph 850c/2)	This field appears if the garnishment type is General and the Dependents Overwrite check box is selected.

Entering Garnishment Income Information

Access the Assign Garnishments DEU - Income page.

Enter the court-specified amounts that differ from the garnishment amounts specified in the German Code of Civil Procedure.

Disposable Income

Min Income Amount (minimum income amount)	Enter the minimum income established by the courts.
Min Income Pct (minimum income percentage)	If the courts have specified that a percentage of total income is to be paid for support garnishments, enter this percentage.
Arrears	If arrears have accrued, enter the amount.
Other Income	Enter the minimum income set by the courts, if applicable.

Priority Distribution Percent

If different garnishments exist simultaneously, you can use the Distribution field to specify the percentage of the total garnished amount to be paid for this garnishment order. The distribution percentage is not legally stipulated.

Entering Bank Transfer Information

Access the Assign Garnishments DEU - Bank Transfer page.

Bank Transfer

Assignment	Click this link to define garnishment payment assignment information.
Recipient	Click this link to define garnishment payment recipient information.

Entering Garnishment Override Information

Access the Assign Garnishments DEU - Override page.

The German Code of Civil Procedures specifies the maximum percentage of earnings that can be deducted. When you enter an employee's earnings, specify the deductible percentage for each earnings type. You can override the deductible percent of an earning/deduction amount. The percentage applies only to individual garnishments; otherwise, the legal percentage rates apply that are specified in the Earnings Table and the Deductions Table for individual pay elements.

To override the garnishment percentage for an earnings element, select the element name and enter the garnishment percentage. Add new rows to override further earnings.

To override the garnishment percentage for a deduction, select the entry type and enter the garnishment percentage for the deduction in the Percent field. Add new rows to override further deductions.

Earning/Deduction Override

Accumulator Name	Select the appropriate accumulator.
Entry Type	Select Earnings or Deduction.
Element Name and Variable Name	Select the appropriate element and variable.
Percent	Enter the percentage.

Reviewing Garnishment Processing Results

This section discusses how to view garnishment processing results.

Page Used to View Garnishment Processing Results

Page Name	Object Name	Navigation	Usage
Garnishment/Rslt (garnishment/results)	GPDE_GR_RSLT	Global Payroll & Absence Mgmt, Absence and Payroll Processing, Review Absence/Payroll Info, Garnishment Results DEU, Garnishment/Rslt	After defining and calculating a garnishment, view the status of a garnishment.

Viewing Garnishment Processing Results

Access the Garnishment/Rslt page.

The fields display data based on the garnishment type. If the garnishment type is General, the page displays Slice Begin Date, Slice End Date, Garnishment Amount, Element Name, General Garn (general garnishment), Already Paid GG (already paid general garnishment), and General Rest. If the garnishment type is Support, the page displays Slice Begin Date, Slice End Date, Garnishment Amount, Arrears, Element Name, Support Garn (support garnishment), Already Paid SG (already paid support garnishment), and Support Rest.

Garnishment Amount	Total amount that the employee owes the debtor.
Arrears	Total amount to be paid by the employee besides the garnishment amount. Arrears occur only if the garnishment type is Support.
General Garn (general garnishment)	Calculated amount for a general garnishment.
Support Garn (support garnishment)	Calculated amount for a support garnishment.
General Rest	The difference between the total amount that the employee owes the debtor and the payments made for the general garnishment.
Support Rest	The difference between the total amount that the employee owes the debtor and the payments made for the support garnishment.

Calculating Interest in Garnishment Processes

This section provides information on calculating interests in the garnishment processes.

PeopleSoft supports the four garnishment-related element categories:

Category	Description
GR_A	Garnishment - Accumulator
GR_D	Garnishment - Deduction
GR_I	Garnishment - Interest Rate
GR_P	Garnishment - Fee

The element categories are used to classify the garnishment deduction elements. PeopleSoft delivers the following deduction elements for garnishments:

Deduction Elements	Description
DE_GR_G001 − DE_GR_G010	General Garnishment
DE_GR_S001 − DE_GR_S010	Support Garnishment

The garnishment deduction elements are assigned to the category GR_D.

Every deduction of category GR_D is assigned to only one accumulator that's keyed by the garnishment priority. PeopleSoft delivers the following accumulators for garnishment:

General Garnishments

Accumulator	Member
DE_GR_G001_AC	DE_GR_G001
DE_GR_G002_AC	DE_GR_G002
DE_GR_G003_AC	DE_GR_G003
DE_GR_G004_AC	DE_GR_G004
DE_GR_G005_AC	DE_GR_G005
DE_GR_G006_AC	DE_GR_G006
DE_GR_G007_AC	DE_GR_G007
DE_GR_G008_AC	DE_GR_G008
DE_GR_G009_AC	DE_GR_G009
DE_GR_G010_AC	DE_GR_G010

Support Garnishments

Accumulator	Member
DE_GR_S001_AC	DE_GR_S001
DE_GR_S002_AC	DE_GR_S002
DE_GR_S003_AC	DE_GR_S003
DE_GR_S004_AC	DE_GR_S004
DE_GR_S005_AC	DE_GR_S005
DE_GR_S006_AC	DE_GR_S006
DE_GR_S007_AC	DE_GR_S007
DE_GR_S008_AC	DE_GR_S008
DE_GR_S009_AC	DE_GR_S009
DE_GR_S010_AC	DE_GR_S010

To use your own garnishment deduction elements, set up a new deduction of the category GR_D and assign it to a new accumulator that's keyed by the garnishment priority number DE_GR_SEQ.

The national court order defines exactly what percentage of earnings is attachable. The garnishment type determines the percentage. General Garnishments have two percentages: 100 and 50. Support Garnishments have three: 100, 75, and 50. The identification of attachable and unattachable earnings must include up to a maximum of the percentage defined by the accumulators. PeopleSoft delivers the following set of statutory accumulators:

Accumulator	Description
DE_GR_G50	Garnishment General 50%
DE_GR_S50	Garnishment Support 50%
DE_GR_S75	Garnishment Support 75%
DE_GR_AL100	Garnishment 100%

A court can overwrite this partitioning. Assume that for a general garnishment, a bonus is attachable by 50 percent and the court order determines, for this case, a percentage of 65. This change is valid only for this specific garnishment case. Therefore, every member is assigned to a variable that's predefined with a fixed percentage.

Example

Accumulator	Member	Earning	Percentage
DE_GR_AL100	DE_ER_M10000	DE_GR_OVRD_M10000	100%
DE_GR_AL100	DE_ER_M10001	DE_GR_OVRD_M10001	100%
DE_GR_AL100	DE_ER_M25000	DE_GR_OVRD_M25000	100%
DE_GR_AL100	DE_ER_M27000	DE_GR_OVRD_M27000	100%

The predefined percentage of the variables can be overridden by the garnishment setup. It's valid only for this payee and garnishment.

Additional Deductions Used for Garnishments

Deduction	Description
DE_GR_FEE1 - DE_GR_FEE10	Processing Fee DD 1 - Processing Fee DD 10
DE_GR_IRT1 - DE_GR_IRT10	Interest Rate DD 1 - Interest Rate DD 10

Additional Accumulators Used for Garnishments

Accumulator	Description
DE_GR_TX_SI	Taxes and Social Insurance
DE_GR_SPAID_AC	Support Garnishment Already Paid
DE_GR_GPAID_AC	General Garnishment Already Paid
DE_GR_S001_AC - DE_GR_S010_AC	Support Garnishment DE_GR_S001 - DE_GR_S010
DE_GR_G001_AC - DE_GR_G010_AC	General Garnishment DE_GR_G001 - DE_GR_G010

Arrays Used for Garnishments

Array	Description
DE_GR_EE	Garnishment Payee Data
DE_GR_EE_OVRD	Individual Pye Garn E/D Ovrd
DE_GR_REFERENCE	Reference Table for Garnishment

PeopleSoft delivers the DE_GR_CALC_SEC section to handle garnishment calculation.