Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 82.djvu/205

 82 STAT. ]

PUBLIC LAW 90-321-MAY 29, 1968

§301. Findings and purpose (a) The Congress finds: (1) The unrestricted garnishment of compensation due for personal services encourages the making of predatory extensions of credit. Such extensions of credit divert money into excessive credit payments and thereby liinder the production and flow of goods in interstate commerce. (2) The application of garnishment as a creditors' remedy frequently results in loss of employment by the debtor, and the resulting disruption of employment, production, and consumption constitutes a substantial burden on interstate commerce. (3) The great di.sparities among the laws of the several States relating to garnishment have, in etif'ect, destroyed the unifonnity of the bankruptcy laws and frustrated the purposes thereof in many areas of the country. (b) On the basis of the findings stated in subsection (a) of this section, the Congress determines that the provisions of this title are necessary and proper for the purpose of carrying into execution the powers of the Congress to regulate commerce and to establish uniform bankruptcy laws. §302. Definitions For the purposes of this title: (a) The term "earnings" means compensation paid or payable for personal.services, whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, bonus, or otherwise, and includes periodic payments pursuant to a pension or retirement program. (b) The term "disposable earnings" means that part of the earnings of any individual remaining after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld. (c) The term "garnishment" means any legal or equitable procedure through which the earnings of any individual are required to be withheld for payment of any debt. §303. Restriction on garnishment (a) Except as provided in subsection (b) and in section 305, the maximum part of the aggregate disposable earnings of an individual for any workweek which is subjected to garnishment may not exceed (1) 25 per centum of his disposable earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his disposable earnings for that week exceed thirty times the Federal minimum hourly wage prescribed by section 6(a)(1) of the F a i r Labor Standards Act of 1938 in effect at the time the earnings are payable, whichever is less. In the case of earnings for any pay period other than a w'eek, the Secretary of Labor shall by regulation prescribe a multiple of the Federal minimum hourly wage equivalent in effect to that set forth in paragraph (2). (b) The restrictions of subsection (a) do not apply in the case of (1) any order of any court for the support of any person. (2) any order of any court of bankruptcy under chapter X III of the Bankruptcy Act. (3) any debt due tor any State or h ederai tax. (c) No court of the United States or any State may make, execute, or enforce any order or process in violation of this section. §304. Restriction on discharge from employment by reason of garnishment (a) No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness.

163

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52 Stat. 930.

11 USC 10011086.

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