Connecticut: Wage Garnishment Limits

The short answer

Connecticut calls this a "wage execution," not a garnishment, but it works
the same way: if an ordinary creditor gets a money judgment against you and
you fail to comply with a court-ordered installment payment plan, the
creditor can apply for a wage execution against your paycheck. The amount is
capped at the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount those
earnings exceed 40 times the higher of the federal or Connecticut minimum
wage — a bigger protected cushion than most states, because Connecticut uses
40 times the wage instead of the federal 30 times. Only one execution can be
paid at a time, in the order it reached your employer, and Connecticut gives
you unusually strong protection against being fired over it.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

The core rule is Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-361a, titled "Execution on wages after
judgment." It sets the amount subject to levy in subsection (f), the priority
among multiple executions in the same subsection, and the anti-discharge
rule in subsection (j). Child support and alimony collection runs through a
separate mechanism, income withholding under § 52-362.

Maximum that can be garnished

Under § 52-361a(f), the most an employer can withhold in any week is the
lesser of two amounts: 25% of your disposable earnings, or the amount by
which your disposable earnings exceed 40 times the higher of the federal
minimum hourly wage or Connecticut's own minimum wage. Unless a court orders
otherwise on a motion to modify, the execution is set at this maximum by
default — it isn't automatically limited to whatever your original
installment payment order required.

State rule vs. federal floor

Connecticut's 25% ceiling matches the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act
floor exactly (15 U.S.C. § 1673(a)). But Connecticut is more protective on
the second half of the formula: federal law uses 30 times the federal
minimum wage as the untouchable floor, while Connecticut uses 40 times the
HIGHER of the federal or Connecticut minimum wage — a materially bigger
cushion, especially since Connecticut's own minimum wage is usually above
the federal rate.

Minimum-wage protected floor

The floor is 40 times whichever is higher: the federal minimum hourly wage
under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or Connecticut's own minimum fair wage
set under § 31-58(i). Connecticut's minimum wage is adjusted periodically and
has exceeded the federal rate for years, so in practice the state number
usually controls the calculation.

Support, tax & student loan debts

Child support and alimony don't go through § 52-361a at all — they use a
separate income withholding order under § 52-362, which follows the same
percentage ranges federal law allows for support (up to 50-65% of disposable
earnings, depending on other dependents and arrears). Connecticut adds one
extra protection even for support withholding: 85% of the first $145 of your
weekly disposable income stays exempt no matter what. Federal tax levies and
federal student loan collections operate through their own separate federal
process, outside this chapter entirely.

Head-of-household/family exemption

Connecticut doesn't have a dedicated head-of-household or family-size
exemption layered on top of the ordinary formula. What it does have is a
general modification process: under § 52-361a(h), either side can ask the
court at any time to modify the execution "as is reasonable," which could
include hardship or family circumstances, but it's a discretionary court
motion rather than a defined statutory standard tied to dependents.

Multiple garnishments at once

Connecticut uses strict first-in-time priority. Section 52-361a(f) states
plainly that only one execution can be satisfied at a time, and priority
between competing executions is set by the order they were presented to the
employer — the first one served gets paid first, and a second creditor's
execution waits its turn.

Protection from being fired

Section 52-361a(j) is unusually protective: an employer can't discipline,
suspend, or discharge an employee over a wage execution unless the employer
has been served with MORE than seven wage executions against that employee
in a single calendar year. That's far beyond the federal rule (15 U.S.C. §
1674), which protects only against discharge for a single garnishment and
stops protecting once a second one arrives. An employer who violates this is
liable for all lost earnings and employment benefits until reinstatement.

What trips people up

The 40x-minimum-wage floor uses whichever of the federal or Connecticut
minimum wage is higher — since Connecticut's own rate is usually the higher
one, don't assume the federal $7.25 figure controls the calculation. The
first-in-time priority rule also means a second or third creditor with a
judgment may wait months before actually collecting anything, since only one
execution is paid at a time regardless of how many are pending. And the
strong anti-discharge protection (more than seven executions in a year)
applies specifically to ordinary wage executions under § 52-361a — it's a
different, more generous standard than the federal one-garnishment rule most
people have heard of.

Common questions

If I already have one wage execution against me and a second creditor gets
a judgment, does the second one start taking money right away?
No — Connecticut pays only one execution at a time. The second creditor's
execution has to wait until the first is satisfied, modified, or set aside.

Can my employer fire me the first time my wages are garnished?
Generally no under Connecticut law — an employer can't discipline or fire
you over a wage execution unless you've been served with more than seven of
them in the same calendar year, a much higher bar than most states set.

Does the 25% cap apply to child support the same way it applies to a
credit card judgment?
No — child support and alimony run through a separate income withholding
process under § 52-362 that can reach up to 50-65% of disposable earnings,
well above the 25% ceiling for an ordinary judgment.

Statutes and sources

• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-361a(f) — "(f) Amount subject to levy. The maximum
  part of the aggregate weekly earnings of an individual which may be
  subject under this section to levy or other withholding for payment of a
  judgment is the lesser of (1) twenty-five per cent of his disposable
  earnings for that week, or (2) the amount by which his disposable earnings
  for that week exceed forty times the higher of (A) the minimum hourly wage
  prescribed by Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, USC
  Title 29, Section 206(a)(1), or (B) the full minimum fair wage established
  by subsection (i) of section 31-58, in effect at the time the earnings are
  payable. Unless the court provides otherwise pursuant to a motion for
  modification, the execution and levy shall be for the maximum earnings
  subject to levy and shall not be limited by the amount of the installment
  payment order. Only one execution under this section shall be satisfied at
  one time. Priority of executions under this section shall be determined by
  the order of their presentation to the employer." —
  https://web.archive.org/web/2026/https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_906.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-361a(h) — "(h) Modification. Either party may apply
  at any time to the court which issued the wage execution for a
  modification of the execution. After notice and hearing or pursuant to a
  stipulation, the court may make such modification of the execution as is
  reasonable." —
  https://web.archive.org/web/2026/https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_906.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-361a(j) — "(j) Unlawful discipline, suspension or
  discharge. Notwithstanding any other provision of the general statutes to
  the contrary, no employer may discipline, suspend or discharge an employee
  because of any wage execution against the employee unless the employer is
  served with more than seven wage executions against the employee in a
  calendar year. An employer who violates this subsection shall be liable to
  the employee for all earnings and all employment benefits lost by the
  employee from the time of the unlawful discipline, suspension or discharge
  to the time of reinstatement." —
  https://web.archive.org/web/2026/https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_906.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-362(c)(1) — "(E) eighty-five per cent of the first
  one hundred forty-five dollars of disposable income per week are exempt,
  and (F) the amount of the withholding order may not exceed the maximum
  percentage of disposable income which may be withheld pursuant to Section
  1673 of Title 15 of the United States Code, together with a statement of
  such obligor's right to claim any other applicable state or federal
  exemptions with respect thereto." —
  https://web.archive.org/web/2026/https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_906.htm
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — "Except as provided in subsection (b) and in section
  1675 of this title, 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
  206(a)(1) of title 29 in effect at the time the earnings are payable,
  whichever is less." —
  https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/USCODE-2011-title15/USCODE-2011-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673
  (accessed 2026-07-05)