What is wage garnishment (saisie des rémunérations)?
Wage garnishment is an enforcement measure through which a creditor causes a fraction of the debtor’s salary or pension to be deducted monthly at source. The employer – designated the third-party debtor (tiers saisi) – withholds that fraction and remits it to the distributing judicial officer (commissaire de justice repartiteur), who then distributes it among creditors.
Its regime is dual. The Labour Code (Articles L. 3252-1 et seq., R. 3252-1 et seq.) sets the substantive conditions: which earnings are concerned, the protected fraction, and the progressive scale. The Code des procédures civiles d’execution (CPCE) provides the general enforcement framework within which wage garnishment operates.
What distinguishes wage garnishment from other procedures
Garnishment (saisie-attribution) seizes a bank balance at a given moment – it is instantaneous, extrajudicial, and carried out by any judicial officer on a third-party debtor (typically a bank). Wage garnishment is radically different: it is continuous (running each month until the debt is fully discharged), it targets future income, and it operates directly upon the employer.
The avis a tiers detenteur (ATD – notice to third-party holder) may also target earnings, but follows a distinct regime: reserved for public creditors (tax authorities, social security). A private creditor cannot use the ATD route.
Founding text – Article L. 3252-1 of the Labour Code:
“Sums due by way of remuneration may only be seized in the proportions and according to the forms determined by the provisions of this chapter.”
This mandatory rule is the keystone of the regime: any seizure departing from it is null, whether it claims too much or too little.
Which earnings can be seized?
Seizable earnings
The concept of remuneration is broadly construed. Seizable earnings include: – base salary and its accessories: bonuses, gratuities, benefits in kind, paid holiday indemnities – basic and supplementary retirement pensions – invalidity pensions – unemployment benefit (allocation d’aide au retour a l’emploi, ARE) – daily sickness and workplace accident allowances
Wholly exempt sums
Certain benefits are completely exempt from seizure regardless of the cause: – the Revenu de Solidarite Active (RSA – minimum income support) – the Allocation aux Adultes Handicapes (AAH – disability allowance) – the prime d’activite (in-work benefit) – family allowances
Exemption is not lost when these sums are paid into a bank account: the exemption carries over to the account balance up to the corresponding amount. The bank cannot freeze that balance.
The progressive scale of seizable proportions
The seizable fraction of earnings is determined by a progressive scale fixed by Article R. 3252-2 of the Labour Code, revised annually by decree according to the minimum wage (SMIC). The scale comprises seven bands: the lowest (for the lowest annual net earnings) is seized at one-twentieth (5%), the highest in full.
| Band of annual net earnings | Seizable fraction |
|---|---|
| Up to threshold 1 (lowest) | 1/20 (5%) |
| Threshold 1 to threshold 2 | 1/10 (10%) |
| Threshold 2 to threshold 3 | 1/5 (20%) |
| Threshold 3 to threshold 4 | 1/4 (25%) |
| Threshold 4 to threshold 5 | 1/3 (33%) |
| Threshold 5 to threshold 6 | 2/3 (67%) |
| Above threshold 6 | Full amount |
Thresholds are revalued annually by decree.
Each dependant – spouse, child, ascendant – raises the thresholds of all bands by a fixed amount set by decree.
Absolutely protected fraction: Regardless of earnings level and regardless of the nature of the debt (including maintenance), a fraction is absolutely exempt from seizure. Its amount equals the RSA for a single person. In practice, the debtor always retains a minimum subsistence amount.
Conditions for initiating wage garnishment
An enforceable title: absolute prerequisite
No seizure may be carried out without a prior enforceable title (titre exécutoire). Article L. 111-3 CPCE provides the exhaustive list: court decisions having enforcement force, notarial deeds bearing the enforcement formula, public law titles, judicial officer certificates for dishonoured cheques.
The claim evidenced by the title must be liquidated (determined or determinable in amount) and due (the payment term expired). These three conditions – title, liquidity, exigibility – are verified at the outset.
A procedural rule merits emphasis: the creditor may not substitute, during proceedings, a different enforceable title for the one attached to the initial application (Cass. 2nd civ., 2 May 2024, No. 21-22.541).
The procedure since 1 July 2025
Before 1 July 2025: The creditor filed an application at the registry of the tribunal judiciaire. The enforcement judge (JEX) summoned the parties to a conciliation hearing. If no agreement was reached, the judge authorised the seizure. The registry managed payments and distribution.
Since 1 July 2025 (Law No. 2023-1059 of 20 November 2023, implemented by Decree No. 2025-125 of 12 February 2025 and Decree No. 2025-493 of 3 June 2025): the procedure is dejudicialised. The creditor applies directly to a distributing judicial officer (commissaire de justice repartiteur). The judicial conciliation hearing is abolished. The JEX intervenes only in case of challenge.
Proceedings initiated before 1 July 2025 remain subject to the former judicial procedure until closure.
The distributing judicial officer: central actor of the new procedure
The reform entrusts conduct of wage garnishment to the distributing judicial officer – a specific function subject to dedicated training (Decree No. 2025-493 of 3 June 2025, Chapter III). This officer receives the application, registers the procedure in the digital register, notifies the employer and distributes recovered funds among creditors.
The procedure step by step
1. Application to the distributing judicial officer The creditor holding an enforceable title applies to a distributing judicial officer. The application must include party identification, detailed debt calculation (principal, interest, costs) and a copy of the title.
2. Registration in the digital wage seizure register The procedure is registered 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 and detects competing seizures on the same debtor.
3. Notification to the employer The judicial officer notifies the seizure document to the debtor’s employer. From notification, the employer becomes third-party debtor. The employer has fifteen days to send the judicial officer a declaration stating the nature of the employment contract, amount of remuneration, and existence of any other seizures in force.
4. Monthly deductions by the employer Each month, the employer calculates the seizable fraction according to the statutory scale and withholds it from the salary. It is remitted directly to the distributing judicial officer – never to the creditor.
5. Distribution among creditors The distributing judicial officer distributes funds among creditors taking into account any privileges (maintenance creditors benefit from a preferential right). Where multiple creditors without privilege compete, distribution is pro rata.
6. Closure The seizure ends when the debt is fully discharged (principal, interest, costs). The procedure is then struck from the digital register.
The debtor’s rights: how to defend
The absolutely protected fraction and the protected bank balance (SBI)
Protection does not stop at wage deductions. If the salary is paid into an account that is subject to garnishment, the bank must mandatorily leave at the debtor’s disposal an amount equal to the RSA for a single person: this is the protected bank balance (solde bancaire insaisissable, SBI).
Challenging the seizure before the enforcement judge
The new procedure has not eliminated judicial control. In case of challenge, the debtor applies to the enforcement judge (JEX), who retains sole jurisdiction over all enforcement difficulties. The debtor may raise: – irregularity or absence of the enforceable title – error in calculating the seizable proportion – limitation of the claim – partial or full payment of the debt – procedural defect (incomplete application, failure to notify)
Requesting grace periods
The debtor may request from the JEX grace periods under Article 1343-5 of the Civil Code, up to a maximum of two years. Granting of grace periods suspends the garnishment procedure.
Over-indebtedness: automatic suspension
Filing an over-indebtedness application (surendettement) with the Banque de France transforms the situation. Upon the over-indebtedness commission declaring the application admissible, this decision automatically suspends and prohibits all enforcement proceedings against the debtor’s property, including wage garnishment (Art. L. 722-2 of the Consumer Code).
Practical points of vigilance
Sanctions for a defaulting employer
An employer who fails to make the required declaration within fifteen days, or who omits to make deductions and payments, may be declared personally liable for the sums it should have withheld. This sanction is severe: the order holding the employer personally liable does not release the debtor-employee from their own obligation toward the creditor – both liabilities coexist (Cass. 2nd civ., 20 Nov. 2025, No. 23-13.496).
Can multiple seizures apply to the same salary?
Yes. Multiple creditors may simultaneously pursue wage garnishment. Each procedure is registered in the digital register, enabling the distributing judicial officer to coordinate deductions within the overall seizable limit. Competition between creditors is resolved by rules of priority: the maintenance creditor enjoys a preferential right over ordinary creditors, but only if a direct payment request has been made.
Set-off, assignment and change of employer
An employer who is itself a creditor of its employee cannot freely set off: set-off operates only within the limit of the seizable fraction of salary (Cass. 2nd civ., 9 Nov. 2006, No. 05-14.535). The protected portion is inviolable, including for an employer’s claim.
If the debtor changes employer, the procedure continues. The creditor must identify the new employer and have notification served by the distributing judicial officer. The digital register facilitates this operation by centralising information.