Wage Garnishment Limits in Connecticut

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Maximum that can be garnished

Section 52-361a(f) states the two-part maximum verbatim: the lesser of twenty-five percent of weekly disposable earnings or the amount above forty times the higher federal-or-Connecticut minimum wage. The same subsection says only one ordinary execution is satisfied at a time.

State rule vs. federal floor

Federal § 1673(a) uses the same 25% percentage prong but a thirty-times floor tied only to the federal minimum wage. Connecticut's forty-times multiplier and higher-of-two-wages benchmark therefore protect more earnings on that second prong.

Support, tax & student loan debts

Support withholding uses § 52-362 instead of the ordinary execution section. Subsection (c)(1) preserves eighty-five percent of the first one hundred forty-five dollars of weekly disposable income and incorporates the maximum percentage allowed by federal § 1673. The federal provision supplies the support tiers based on other dependents and older arrears.

Head-of-household/family exemption

Connecticut does not state a fixed household-status add-on. Instead, § 52-361a(h) allows either party to seek a modification at any time and lets the court make a modification "as is reasonable" after notice and hearing or by stipulation.

Multiple garnishments at once

For ordinary executions, § 52-361a(f) sets priority by presentation to the employer. Support is different: § 52-362(g) gives support withholding orders precedence over ordinary wage executions and prorates concurrent support orders if the combined levy exceeds the support maximum, with current support first.

Protection from being fired

Section 52-361a(j) bars discipline, suspension, or discharge because of a wage execution unless the employer is served with more than seven executions against that employee in the calendar year. The same subsection makes a violating employer liable for lost earnings and employment benefits through reinstatement.

What trips people up

The statutory cap is ordinarily the withholding amount even if an installment payment order called for less. Section 52-361a(f) says the execution is for the maximum earnings subject to levy unless the court provides otherwise on a modification motion. The motion route is therefore the place to seek a lower amount; the installment figure does not lower the execution by itself.

Common questions

Does withholding start as soon as the employer receives the execution? No. Section 52-361a(d) creates an automatic twenty-day stay after service on the employer, and a timely claim continues the stay until the claim is decided.

Does a support withholding order wait behind an existing ordinary wage execution? No. Section 52-362(g) expressly gives support withholding orders precedence over ordinary executions under § 52-361a.

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://prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2025/pub/chap_906.htm#sec_52-361a (accessed 2026-08-17)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-361a(d) — "On service of the wage execution on the employer, the wage execution shall automatically be stayed for a period of twenty days"; a timely claim continues the stay "until determination of the claim." — https://prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2025/pub/chap_906.htm#sec_52-361a (accessed 2026-08-17)
• 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://prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2025/pub/chap_906.htm#sec_52-361a (accessed 2026-08-17)
• 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://prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2025/pub/chap_906.htm#sec_52-361a (accessed 2026-08-17)
• 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://prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2025/pub/chap_906.htm#sec_52-362 (accessed 2026-08-17)
• Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-362(g) — "All orders for withholding issued pursuant to this section shall take precedence over any execution issued pursuant to section 52-361 of the general statutes revised to 1983, or section 52-361a." Concurrent support orders are allocated proportionally, "giving priority in such allocation to current support." — https://prdext3.cga.ct.gov/2025/pub/chap_906.htm#sec_52-362 (accessed 2026-08-17)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1673 — Ordinary garnishment "may not exceed" twenty-five percent of disposable earnings or the amount above thirty times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is less; subsection (b)(2) states the separate support tiers. — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1673.htm (accessed 2026-08-17)
• 15 U.S.C. § 1674 — "No employer may discharge any employee by reason of the fact that his earnings have been subjected to garnishment for any one indebtedness." — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2024-title15/html/USCODE-2024-title15-chap41-subchapII-sec1674.htm (accessed 2026-08-17)