Attachment of earnings

What is attachment of earnings?

Attachment of earnings is a compulsory enforcement measure whereby a creditor has a fraction of the debtor's salary or pension deducted monthly at source. The employer - referred to as the garnishee - retains this fraction and pays it to the court-appointed administrator in charge of the procedure, who then distributes it to the creditors.

It has a dual system. The French Labour Code (articles L. 3252-1 et seq., R. 3252-1 et seq.) sets out the basic conditions: remuneration concerned, fraction exempt from seizure, scale of quotas. The Code of civil enforcement procedures (CPCE) lays down the general rules for enforcement procedures, which include attachment of earnings.

What distinguishes attachment of earnings from other procedures

La attachment seizes a bank balance at a given moment - it is instantaneous, extrajudicial and carried out by any judicial commissioner on a third party (usually a bank). The seizure of wages is radically different: it is continues (it runs each month until the debt is paid in full), it relates to future income, and it is exercised directly with the employer.

Notice à tiers détenteur (ATD) may also relate to pay, but it is governed by a separate system: it is reserved for public creditors (Treasury, URSSAF) and does not fall within the scope of the Labour Code. The Court of Cassation has clearly ruled that these two procedures cannot be confused (Cass. civ. 2e, 9 June 2022, no. 20-23.688). A private creditor cannot use the ATD procedure.

What earnings can be seized?

Remuneration subject to seizure

The concept of remuneration is broadly defined. The following may be seized:

• basic salary and related benefits: bonuses, gratuities, benefits in kind, holiday pay, etc; ;
• basic and supplementary retirement pensions - the procedure applies to them under the same conditions as to salaries (Cass. civ. 2e, 16 March 2000, no. 98-18.728); ;
• disability pensions (Cass. civ. 2e, 7 June 2012, no. 11-19.622); ;
• back-to-work benefits (ARE) paid by France Travail ;
• daily sickness and workplace accident benefits.

Totally elusive sums

Certain benefits are not subject to seizure, for whatever reason:

• Revenu de Solidarité Active (RSA) ;
• Allocation aux Adultes Handicapés (AAH) ;
• activity allowance ;
• family allowances.

Unseizability does not disappear when these sums are paid into a bank account: unseizability is transferred to the balance of the account to the same extent (Cass. civ. 2e, 7 June 2012, no. 11-19.622). The bank cannot block this balance.

Scale of attachable shares

The fraction of remuneration that may actually be seized is determined by a progressive scale set out in Article R. 3252-2 of the French Labour Code, This is revised each year by decree in line with changes in the minimum wage. The scale comprises seven brackets: one-twentieth of the lowest bracket (5 %) is deducted from the lowest bracket (for the lowest net annual earnings), while the full amount is deducted from the highest bracket.

The thresholds are revised each year by decree. Consult the current scale at Légifrance or on service-public.fr.

Each dependant - spouse, child, ascendant - raises the thresholds for all brackets by an amount set by decree. A debtor with three dependent children can therefore keep a much larger proportion of his or her earnings than a single person with the same salary.

Conditions for attachment of earnings

An enforceable title, an absolute prerequisite

No seizure may be carried out without enforcement order beforehand. Article L. 111-3 of the CPCE lists the following: enforceable court decisions (civil judgements, appeal court rulings, industrial tribunal rulings), notarised deeds bearing the executory clause, documents issued by legal entities governed by public law (notices of collection from the Treasury, URSSAF constraints), documents issued by a court commissioner for unpaid cheques.

The debt that the instrument evidences must be liquid (the amount is fixed or determinable) and due (the deadline for payment has expired). These three conditions - title, liquidity and payability - are verified at the start of the procedure.

One procedural rule should be emphasised: the creditor may not, in the course of the proceedings, substitute another writ of execution for the one he attached to his initial application. The debtor has the right to be informed of the precise legal basis for the proceedings against him (Cass. civ. 2e, 2 May 2024, no. 21-22.541).

The claim must be certain and not time-barred

The debtor may contest the seizure by arguing that the debt is time-barred, that it has been paid in full or in part, or that the amount is disputed. These arguments are submitted to the enforcement judge. The statute of limitations does not suspend the current proceedings, but it does deprive the enforcement order of its basis if it is established.

The procedure since 1 July 2025

The distributing court commissioner: a key player in the new procedure

The reform entrusts control of the seizure of remuneration to the court commissioner dispatcher. He is not the same as the commissioner of justice who issues ordinary bailiff's documents: this is a specific function, subject to dedicated training (Decree no. 2025-493 of 3 June 2025, Chapter III). It is the bailiff who receives the petition, registers the proceedings in the digital register, notifies the employer and distributes the funds recovered among the creditors.

The step-by-step procedure

• 1
  Application to the distributing court commissioner

  A creditor in possession of a writ of execution applies to a court-appointed administrator. The application must include the identity of the parties, a detailed breakdown of the claim (principal, interest, costs) and a copy of the writ of execution. Any omission concerning the terms of payment constitutes a formal defect liable to invalidity (Cass. civ. 2e, 19 November 2009, no. 08-21.292).

• 2
  Entry in the digital register of seizures of remuneration

  The procedure is entered in the digital register maintained by the National Chamber of Judicial Officers (CNCJ), created by Decree no. 2025-493 of 3 June 2025. This register ensures transparency between judicial commissioners and makes it possible to detect competing seizures on the same debtor. The data is kept for ten years, renewable.

• 3
  Notifying the employer

  The court commissioner notifies the debtor's employer of the seizure. As from this notification, the employer becomes a garnishee. He has fortnight to send the court commissioner a declaration stating the nature of the employment contract, the amount of the remuneration and the existence of any other outstanding attachments (ATD, direct payment of maintenance).

• 4
  Monthly deductions by the employer

  Each month, the employer calculates the fraction that can be seized according to the legal scale and deducts it from the wages. It pays it directly to the distributing court commissioner - never to the creditor. If the debtor changes employer, the procedure continues with the new employer once it has been identified and notified.

• 5
  Distribution among creditors

  The court-appointed administrator distributes the funds among the creditors, taking into account any privileges (a maintenance creditor has a preferential right in the event of direct payment, Cass. civ. 2e, 28 September 2000, no. 98-17.614). If there is more than one creditor without preferential rights, the distribution is made in proportion to the claims.

• 6
  Closure of the procedure

  The attachment ends when the debt is paid in full (principal, interest, costs). The procedure is then removed from the digital register. It may also be suspended or stopped by decision of the JEX in the event of a dispute, the granting of payment deadlines or the admissibility of an over-indebtedness file.

The debtor's rights: how to defend yourself?

Absolutely unseizable fraction and unseizable bank balance (SBI)

The debtor's protection does not stop at deductions from pay. If the salary is paid into an account that is the subject of a attachment, The bank is legally obliged to leave a sum equivalent to the RSA for a single person at the debtor's disposal. unseizable bank balance (UBS). This mechanism guarantees a minimum level of resources, even if there are multiple proceedings. The unseizability of a claim (RSA, disability) is transferred to the balance of the account funded by this claim (Cass. civ. 2e, 7 June 2012, no. 11-19.622).

Challenging the seizure before the enforcement judge

The new procedure has not abolished judicial supervision. In the event of a dispute, the debtor refers the matter to the enforcement judge (JEX), who remains the only judge competent to rule on all difficulties relating to enforcement. The debtor may raise :

• the irregularity or absence of an enforcement order ;
• an error in the calculation of the seizable portion; ;
• prescription of the claim ;
• partial or full payment of the debt ;
• a formal defect in the procedure (incomplete application, lack of notification).

An important clarification relates to the nature of the decisions made: the judgment which, under the old procedure, verified the amount of the claim and settled disputes does not constitute an enforceable title. It cannot serve as the basis for other enforcement measures (Cass. civ. 2e, 4 March 2021, no. 19-22.704).

Requesting extended payment terms

The debtor may apply to the JEX for deferred payment under article 1343-5 of the Civil Code, up to a limit of two years. The granting of these deadlines suspends the seizure procedure. If the debtor complies with the payment schedule, seizure is avoided. If the debtor defaults, the procedure resumes without the need for a new procedure.

Over-indebtedness: automatic suspension

Submitting a over-indebtedness to the Banque de France changes the situation radically. As soon as the over-indebtedness commission declares the case admissible, this decision suspends and prohibits all enforcement proceedings against the debtor's assets, including attachment of wages (art. L. 722-2 of the French Consumer Code). The suspension can last up to two years. It gives the debtor time to find a global solution to his debt.

Practical points to watch out for

Penalties for defaulting employers

A garnishee employer who fails to make the required declaration within fifteen days, or who neglects to make the deductions and payments, is liable to be declared personally liable for the sums that should have been deducted. This is a severe sanction: the JEX's order that the debtor be personally liable does not release the debtor employee from his own obligation to the creditor - the two commitments coexist (Cass. civ. 2e, 20 November 2025, no. 23-13.496).

If the employer receives a release from an ATD that had suspended the seizure of wages, it must immediately resume the deductions. The release puts an end to all the effects of the ATD, including the suspension: an employer who does not comply with it becomes personally liable for the deductions not made since that date (Cass. civ. 2e, 1 December 2016, no. 15-27.303).

Is it possible to have several attachments on the same salary?

Yes, several creditors can simultaneously initiate a seizure of earnings. Each procedure is entered in the numerical register, which enables the distributing court commissioner to coordinate the deductions within the limit of the overall seizable portion. Competition between creditors is governed by the rules of rank and privilege: the maintenance creditor has a preferential right over the ordinary creditor, but only if he has applied for direct payment.

Compensation, assignment and change of employer

Employers who are themselves creditors of their employees are not free to offset: offsetting is only possible up to the limit of the portion of the salary that can be seized (Cass. civ. 2e, 9 November 2006, no. 05-14.535). The part of the salary that cannot be seized cannot be altered, even in the case of a claim by the employer.

If the debtor changes employer, the procedure continues. The creditor must identify the new employer and have it notified by the distributing court commissioner. The digital register facilitates this operation by centralising the information.