HR-Glossar
Pfändung von Arbeitseinkommen (attachment of earnings)
How a German wage attachment works, what duties the employer has as garnishee and how the attachable income is determined.
1. What is Pfändung von Arbeitseinkommen (attachment of earnings)?
In an attachment of earnings a creditor reaches the pay claim of an indebted person. The basis is a court attachment and transfer order or – for public law claims – an attachment notice issued by the authority.
The employer thereby becomes a garnishee with duties of its own to provide information (Section 840 ZPO). It still owes the pay but may no longer pay the attachable part to the employee; it must remit it to the creditor. Paying the employee nevertheless may mean paying twice.
Not all income is attachable. Part remains protected as a subsistence minimum; under Section 850c ZPO the threshold depends on the level of net income and the number of dependants and follows from the official attachment table. The amounts are adjusted regularly and are deliberately not stated in this entry.
The basis of calculation is not net pay for tax purposes but attachable net income – under Section 850e ZPO certain payments are deducted or added first.
For an employer with no German experience, the second paragraph is the exposure: this is a duty that arrives unasked, carries liability, and pays nothing.
2. Origin and development
Enforcement against earnings is as old as the Code of Civil Procedure. Its underlying conflict is unchanged: the creditor is to obtain their right, but the indebted person is not to lose their livelihood – or their motivation to work.
From that follow the attachment exemption thresholds and their regular adjustment to the cost of living. Later came the protected account, extending the protection from the pay claim to the bank account, together with separate rules for one-off payments, holiday pay and certain premiums.
3. Core principles and how it works
Ranking by date of receipt
Several attachments are satisfied in the order in which they arrive. Whoever attaches later is reached only once the prior creditor has been satisfied.
Maintenance claims take priority
Separate, more favourable rules apply to maintenance claims; they rank ahead of ordinary creditors and can reach deeper into income.
The garnishee's duty to provide information
On request, the employer must declare within two weeks whether and in what amount it will pay. Failing to declare can give rise to liability in damages.
Components that cannot be attached
Certain payments are wholly or partly exempt – parts of hardship premiums, expense allowances and, to a degree, holiday pay. They are to be separated out first.
Not a ground for dismissal
An attachment alone does not justify a dismissal. It is an enforcement step, not conduct on the employee's part.
4. Who is Pfändung von Arbeitseinkommen (attachment of earnings) relevant for?
- Employers of every size – the duty reaches them whether or not they are set up for it.
- Payroll teams – calculation, ranking and remittance are demanding case-by-case work.
- Employees affected – for them it is about the protected subsistence minimum.
- HR – confidentiality and correct communication matter particularly here.
5. How it differs from related terms
- Attachment and assignment – in an assignment the employee transfers their claim voluntarily; an attachment is enforcement. - Attachment and set-off – the employer can set off its own claims, but only within the limits of attachment protection. - Wage attachment and account attachment – one reaches the employer, the other the bank. The protected account provides protection on the account side. - Attachment and insolvency proceedings – in consumer insolvency a trustee takes the place of individual creditors; running attachments lose their effect.
6. Variants and adaptations
- Attachment by private creditors – on the basis of an attachment and transfer order. - Attachment for maintenance – with its own calculation, more favourable to the creditor. - Attachment notices from authorities – the tax office, a health insurance fund or customs, for instance, without a court order. - Assignment of wages – voluntary, but treated similarly in payroll. - Insolvency attachment – remittance to the trustee instead of individual creditors.
7. Advantages and challenges
Advantages
- Protection of the subsistence minimum is secured by statute and not negotiable
- The attachment table makes the calculation traceable and uniform
- Clear ranking prevents arbitrariness where there are several creditors
- For creditors an effective route to enforcing justified claims
Challenges
- Considerable administrative effort for the employer, with no remuneration at all
- A liability risk for wrong calculation or a missing garnishee declaration
- Several simultaneous attachments quickly make the calculation hard to follow
- High demands on confidentiality inside the business
- For the person affected a burden that also touches the employment relationship
- One-off payments and premiums follow their own rules and are frequently handled wrongly
8. Best practices for implementation
Document the date of receipt
The ranking depends on arrival. A date stamp on the order is the basis of any later dispute.
File the garnishee declaration within the deadline
Two weeks from the request. Failing to declare can become more expensive than the attachment itself.
Let the system do the calculation
Calculating an attachment by hand is error-prone. A maintained payroll program knows the table, the ranking and the exempt components.
Treat it confidentially
The information belongs solely with those who need it for payroll and remittance – not with the line manager and not with the team.
Deposit with the court where in doubt
Where it is unclear who is entitled, the amount can be deposited with the local court. That protects against being called on twice.
9. Tips for employers and employees
For employers
- **Do not pay the employee** – paying out the attachable part can mean paying a second time
- **Keep strictly to the ranking** – the creditor first in time is satisfied first
- **No dismissal because of an attachment** – it is not a ground for dismissal
- **Take advice where in doubt** – the calculation is case-by-case work, and the employer is liable for errors
For employees
- **The subsistence minimum is protected** – the exemption threshold follows your income and maintenance obligations
- **Evidence your maintenance obligations** – they raise the protected amount but are not taken into account automatically
- **Set up a protected account** – it also protects incoming pay on the account side
- **Use debt counselling** – it is free and knows routes a payroll department cannot offer
10. Conclusion
A wage attachment makes the employer a garnishee without being asked – with duties, deadlines and liability, but without remuneration. Errors are expensive, because paying the wrong side can lead to a second payment. The calculation itself belongs in a payroll program, not in a spreadsheet; the date of receipt belongs documented, and the garnishee declaration belongs filed within the deadline. For the person affected the subsistence minimum remains protected – that protection is the heart of the rules, and it cannot be contracted away. This entry does not replace legal advice in an individual case.
For an international group the point to plan for is that this arrives unannounced. There is no opt-out and no fee, the two-week declaration deadline runs from the request, and the exposure from paying the employee the attachable part is a second payment of the same money.
A note on sources: an official English version of the Code of Civil Procedure exists, but its translation reflects amendments only up to 10 October 2013, and Section 850c ZPO in particular has been substantially restructured since. The German originals are therefore cited below and their wording governs.
Sources
- Section 840 ZPO – The garnishee's duty to declare (German original; the English translation is as at 2013) (opens in a new tab)
- Section 850c ZPO – Attachment thresholds for earnings (German original; substantially amended since the English translation) (opens in a new tab)
- Section 850e ZPO – Calculating attachable earnings (German original) (opens in a new tab)
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