Wage attachment (or "wage attachment")

Verified 01 April 2023 - Legal and Administrative Information Directorate (Prime Minister)

The attachment of earnings (part of salary and possibly other income) allows a person, to whom an employee owes money, to obtain the payment of the amount due to him. The employer must allocate part of the employee's salary to repaying the debt. The employee now receives only part of his salary. But this sum may not be less than the amount of the elusive bank balance (SBI).

Conditions

The creditor must have a enforceable title noting a claim cash (amount quantified and not disputed by the debtor) and due (payment due).

The creditor seeking to obtain unpaid maintenance may resort to this procedure. However, they may prefer to do the following:

Appeal to the judge

Who is the competent judge?

The competent judge shall be the enforcement judge of the court of law on which the debtor's domicile depends. If the debtor is resident abroad or has no known domicile, this is the enforcement judge of the court on which the domicile of the debtor's employer depends.

Who can take the matter to the judge?

The creditor may himself bring the matter before the judge, or call upon a lawyer, or a bailiff (now called the commissioner of justice) or notary within the jurisdiction of the competent court, or any other person who has a power of attorney.

Who shall I contact
Who shall I contact

How do I seize the judge?

In order to bring a case before the judge, the court’s registry must file or send a letter to the court’s registry request, accompanied by a copy of the enforceable title.

The request can be written on free paper or be made with the cerfa form n°15708:

Request Wage Attachment (or Wage Attachment)

The request must contain the following information:

  • Name, forenames, occupation, domicile, nationality, date and place of birth of the creditor
  • The name and address of the person against whom the application is made, or, if the application is legal person, its name and registered office
  • Subject matter of the request
  • Name and address of the debtor's employer
  • Separate statement of the amounts claimed in principal (i.e. the amount initially due), the costs and interest due and the indication of the interest rate
  • Information concerning the payment of seized amounts

Summons to the hearing

The creditor and the debtor shall be convened at least 15 days before the date of the conciliation hearing.

FYI  

at the hearing, it is possible to be represented in particular by lawyer (fee-based approach).

During the hearing

The enforcement judge tries to reach an agreement between the creditor and the debtor, in particular by granting payment deadlines or by providing for reimbursement by partial payments.

If the debtor does not appear, the judge may order the seizure, unless he considers it necessary to reconvene.

At the end of the hearing

The hearing is concluded differently, depending on whether or not an agreement has been reached between the creditor and the debtor:

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Agreement is reached

A conciliation report shall be drawn up. It is signed by the creditor and the debtor. Wage attachment does not occur.

However, if the debtor fails to comply with the commitments he made at the hearing, the creditor may request the registry of the court to proceed with the attachment without further attempt at conciliation.

Who shall I contact

The disagreement persists

2 possible outcomes, depending on whether or not the debtor contested the proceedings during the hearing:

The debtor did not contest the seizure

A non-conciliation report shall be drawn up.

It shall indicate the amount of the claim for which attachment may be made by the Director of the Judicial Registry Services.

Within 8 days of the hearing, a notice of attachment is sent by registered letter with notice of receipt to the debtor's employer. The debtor shall receive a copy of the attachment document by simple letter.

The debtor contested the seizure

A non-conciliation report shall be drawn up.

The enforcement judge shall decide on the challenge immediately or at a subsequent hearing.

The judgment shall enable the Director of the Judicial Registry Services to have the attachment order drawn up.

Within 8 days of the expiry of the time-limits for appealing against the judgment, the Registrar of the Court shall send a act of attachment by registered letter with notice of receipt to the debtor's employer. The debtor shall receive a copy of it by simple letter.

The attachment order is sent by registered letter with notice of receipt to the employer of the debtor. If the debtor works as an interim worker, the attachment notice is sent to the temporary company of work.

The debtor shall receive a copy of the notice of attachment by simple letter.

The attachment order include the following information:

  • Name, forenames and domicile of the debtor and creditor or, in the case of legal person, its name and registered office
  • Statement of the sums for which seizure is practiced (principal, costs and interest due) and indication of the interest rate
  • Method of calculating the seizable fraction and how its payment is made

Informing the transplant

Within 15 days of receiving the act of attachment, the employer must inform the court registry of:

  • the situation of the employee in the company (for example, a fixed-term contract or a permanent contract)
  • and any other seizures in progress (direct payment of maintenance, administrative seizure to a third party holder, etc.).

An employer who does not inform the court registry shall incur up to €10,000 of fine. He may also be ordered to pay damages.

At any time, the employer must inform the court registry of a change that may suspend or terminate the seizure (e.g. sick leave, termination of employment). It must do so within eight days.

Make Entry

Every month, the employer must pay to the court registry the seizable sum, without interruption until the end of the seizure notified by the Registrar.

In the event that the employer does not comply with the court's decision on attachment of wages, he may be considered personally as debtor and be obliged to pay off the employee's debt.

Please note

where the employee has more than one employer, the registry shall determine the deductions to be made by each employer. If one of them can pay the full amount, he will be responsible for the seizure.

Most of the time, the amount of income that can be seized is calculated from the cumulative net wages received in the preceding 12 months the act of attachment.

Net salary includes the following:

  • Salary (net of CSG: titleContent, of the CRDS: titleContent and withholding tax)
  • Pay increases for overtime
  • Benefits in kind

Please note

where the employee receives wages from more than one employer, the seizable income is calculated on the total of these amounts.

But the amount of income that can be seized also includes:

  • Accident at work Sickness, maternity and child benefit
  • Supplementary allowances in the event of reduced working hours (unemployment, partial, temporary half-time)
  • Unemployment benefits (allowances, grants and any other benefits paid by Pôle emploi)
  • Voluntary retirement allowance
  • Return to Employment Benefit (RWA)
  • Disability pensions and annuities
  • Retirement and survivors' pensions
  • Solidarity allowance for the elderly (Aspa)

In addition, family benefits can be claimed only in certain cases and for the payment of certain claims only.

However, some amounts are not included in the seizable income:

  • Activity bonus
  • Allowances representative of professional expenses
  • Capital allowances or annuities for accidents at work
  • Retirement allowances
  • Severance pay as a result of the company's economic situation
  • Conventional severance pay
  • Redundancy payments
  • Custom Battery Allowance (Apa)
  • Disabled adult allowance (AAH) and independent living allowance (MVA), except for the payment of maintenance costs for the disabled person
  • Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
  • Participation and profit-sharing premiums

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General case

Calculation of the maximum amount of the entry

Only a fraction of the seizable income can be withheld by the employer.

This graspable share is determined by a scale defined for a single living debtor.

Tableau - Maximum amount of the seizure for each tranche of monthly attachable resources

Total monthly seizable resources

Seizable part

Maximum amount of the entry

(cumulative amount)

1re slice

Up to €347.50

1/20e

€17.38

2e slice

Beyond €347.50 and up to€678.33

1/10e

€50.46

3e slice

Beyond €678.33 and up to€1,010.83

1/5e

€116.96

4e slice

Beyond €1,010.83 and up to€1,340.00

1/4

€199.25

5e slice

Beyond €1,340.00 and up to €1,670.83

1/3

€309.53

6e slice

Beyond €1,670.83 and up to €2,007.50

2/3

€533.97

7e slice

Beyond €2,007.50

100%

€533.97

+ all sums above €2,007.50

Example :

  • For the debtor whose total monthly seizable resources is €1,500, the amount of the seizure may be up to €309.53 - ((€1,670.83 - €1,500) x 1/3) = €252.58 per month.
  • For the debtor whose total monthly seizable resources is €2,500, the amount of the seizure may be up to €533.97 + (2 500 - €2,007.50) =€1,026.47 per month.

The amount of the installments shall be increased, for each dependent of the debtor, by €134.17.

Dependants of the debtor shall be, on presentation of evidence, the following:

  • Spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner whose resources are less than €607.75
  • Dependent children (living with or for whom support is paid)
  • Ascending whose resources are less than €607.75 and who lives with him or for whom he pays alimony.

FYI  

it is obligatory to leave at the disposal of the debtor the elusive bank balance (SBI), which means at least €607.75.

Estimated amount of seizure

The maximum amount that can be captured can be estimated using a simulator:

Estimate the amount of wage attachment (or wage attachment)

Warning  

the nature and amount of the amount seized must be indicated on the pay slip, otherwise the employer will be penalized.

Unpaid maintenance

Seizable income may be seized in its entirety, except for the elusive bank balance (SBI).

The SBI is the minimum amount that must be left with the debtor.

This sum shall be at least equal to €607.75.

Warning  

the nature and amount of the amount seized must be indicated on the pay slip, otherwise the employer will be penalized.

The release seizure may take place:

  • Either after a written agreement between the debtor and the creditor was transmitted to the registry of the court.
  • That is after the judge has determined that the debt is fully repaid.
    To do this, the debtor must file his application or send it by registered letter to the court registry.

Release of the seizure shall be notified to the debtor's employer within 8 days of the judge's decision.

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