Federal law authorizes the pay of federal civilian employees to be garnished for commercial obligations in accordance with state law. The term "commercial" obligations and garnishments do not include those for child support or alimony. Civilian employees are subject to garnishment for child support and alimony obligations under 42 U.S.C. 659.

The Hatch Act Amendments of 1993, enacted October 6, 1993, require the United States to honor garnishment orders or similar legal processes issued for the enforcement of commercial legal obligations of Federal civilian employees. The public law is codified at 5. U.S.C. 5520a and became effective on February 3, 1994. The enabling regulation is found at 5 C.F.R. 582.

As the paying agency for the civilian employees of the Department of Defense (DoD), we are responsible for processing commercial garnishments against civilian employees of DoD.

The federal regulation requires that creditors serve commercial garnishments on us directly as the designated agent for service of process for the DoD. Creditors may serve garnishments by mail, fax or personal service. Valid service is not accomplished until the legal process is served on us directly at the following address:

Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
Cleveland DFAS-DGG/CL.
PO Box 998002.
Cleveland Ohio 44199-8002

Toll Free Customer Service: 1-888-DFAS-411 (1-888-332-7411)

The garnishment must provide sufficient identifying information to enable us to process it. Parties seeking garnishment actions must provide the employee’s full name and complete social security number (SSN). If the information submitted is insufficient to identify the employee, we will return the garnishment with an explanation of the deficiency.

At the time we process the garnishment, we will send notice to the employee that a garnishment has been served and will send the employee a copy of the garnishment. Non-receipt of this notice does not mean that payments cannot be started under the garnishment. We will respond to a properly served garnishment within thirty (30) calendar days after receipt, or within such longer period as may be prescribed by applicable state or local law.

Any challenge to either the garnishment or the underlying court order must be made in court by the employee or the employee's private attorney. We do not have the authority to represent the employee and will not litigate or otherwise resolve such disputes.

Under 15 U.S.C. 1673(a)(1), involuntary withholding for the collection if a commercial debt is limited to a maximum of twenty-five (25%) percent of the employee's disposable earnings. However, state law limitations prevail when they provide a maximum collection percentage that is less than twenty-five (25%) percent.

An employee's disposable earnings are defined as pay subject to garnishment such as wages, salary, bonuses and incentive pay, less authorized deductions. A complete list of the payments included in the definition of "disposable earnings" is found at 5 C.F.R. section 582.103. The regulation specifies the amounts that are excluded from the amount subject to garnishment. These include amounts owed to the United States, federal, state and local income tax withholding, Social Security withholding (FICA) and deductions for health insurance premiums.

If we are served with multiple garnishments, we will satisfy them on a first-come, first-served basis. Orders for child support and alimony, including orders for child support and alimony arrearages, have priority over any commercial garnishment. If there are no disposable earnings available to comply with the court order due to a previously served order for child support or alimony, we will return the garnishment without action. In the case where there are no disposable earnings available to comply with the court order due to previously served commercial garnishments, we will retain the garnishment and process it when funds become available. That is provided the terms of the second garnishment allow for such delayed processing.

In accordance with the regulation, we will assess an administrative fee of $75.00 against the employee to offset the cost of processing the garnishment. This fee covers the costs directly related to the processing of an order and will be deducted from the employee at the time the garnishment is started.

DoD civilian employees are paid on a bi-weekly basis; therefore, we will make payments on a bi-weekly basis. Variations in the pay cycle cannot be accommodated and there is no requirement to do so under either the statute or the enabling regulation. Furthermore, the pay system cannot escrow payments or institute a "withhold and do not remit" order. We will return such garnishments without action. The pay system also does not allow for prorated payments.

Please include a return address on any correspondence, as well as the mailing envelope. Questions concerning the commercial garnishment process can be directed to the Customer Service Department at 1-888-332-7411.

Garnishment Operations Facsimile (FAX) Information:
Fax Phone Number: Commercial (216) 522-6960 or DSN 580-6960 or toll free: 1-877-622-5930.
In improving the processes in the Garnishment Operations we are now using a fax gateway directly into our Electronic Document Management System. To ensure your document is processed in a timely and efficient manner you must include the following information on the fax document and follow the additional guidance provided:

• Member/Employee Social Security Number (SSN) - Court Orders/Documents will not be processed if the SSN is not on the document.
• Return Phone Number.
• Return Fax Number.
• Ensure original documents are clear and legible.
• In each fax transmission, include only correspondence for one member or employee (if you have multiple documents for one member, they can be sent on one fax transmission).