Payroll administrators can set up garnishments that are specific to New Zealand Payroll and reporting purposes. New Zealand garnishments are similar to Australian garnishment orders except that there are no fees attached to New Zealand garnishments orders. For general information on garnishments, see Garnishment Management.
| Type of order | Description |
|---|---|
| Child Support |
Child support payments. Child support deductions can be voluntary or mandatory but take priority over other garnishments deductions. Employees who want to have child support deducted from their wages must seek approval by Inland Revenue Department (IRD). Whether the deduction is opted into by the employee or directed by the government, the employer receives notice instructions from IRD on how much to deduct, how often, and when to stop payments. Child support payments are deducted from an employee’s pay after PAYE is deducted but before any other deductions (like student loan repayments, insurance, superannuation, union fees, etc.). |
| Judgment Order |
Other types of charging or judgment debt court orders for which you can set up a garnishee to deduct earnings as advised by the IRD (Inland Revenue Department). |
Child support orders are subject to “protected earnings” where all employees can keep 60% of their net pay, after tax and child support and any other attachment order is deducted to cover living expenses. Protected net earnings only apply to child support payments and other attachment orders. You must still make other deductions, such as student loan repayments, KiwiSaver or ACC Earners’ Levy. However, insurance, superannuation, and union fees might be deducted subject to the Wages Protection Act 1983. Child support and any other attachment order deductions cannot exceed 40% of the net pay.
Allowed garnishments are displayed in Payroll > Pay Run Management in the Preview sub-tab. Garnishments are displayed on pay slips in the Post Tax Deductions section. If an employee has multiple garnishment orders, each of the garnishment orders is shown separately as an entry under Post Tax Deductions on the pay slip.
You can set up a garnishment by loading the employee profile and going to the Payroll > Garnishments screen in People.
The Garnishments screen displays a table with three buttons–Add, Copy, and Delete–and the following columns:
- Name: Automatically populated when you select an option in the Type drop-down list (see the Table describing the Properties tab below).
- Type: Type of garnishment (child support or garnishment order).
- Effective From: Start date of the garnishment.
- Effective To: End date of the garnishment, if applicable.
- Order Date: Date on which the garnishment order was issued by the court.
- Date Received: Date on which the court order was received by the employer.
- Active: When selected, indicates that the garnishment is active.
The Garnishments screen also contains a Problems panel with error, warning, or information messages that expands if you save a record that has missing fields or other potential problems.
If the employee has one or more current or past garnishments, they are displayed in the list of garnishments. Some of these fields are populated when you create a garnishment entry for an employee by clicking Add.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| General Details | |
| Effective From | The pay day or pay period that a garnishee must start the garnishment deduction. Required. |
| Effective To | The pay day or pay period of the garnishment end date. |
| Type |
Drop-down list with the following two options (required):
|
| Active | Checkbox. If selected, the garnishment is active. |
| Garnishment Deduction Type | Drop-down list with the following options:
|
| Order Details | |
| Reference Number | Garnishment reference number. Required. |
| Court Order Issued Date | Date upon which the court order was issued. Required |
| Court Order Received Date | Date upon which the court order was received. Required |
| Ordered Amount / Percentage | Field for the amount, or percent, issued in the court order to deduct from each pay. Required. |
| Protected Earnings Override Amount | Field in which to enter the amount to override PEA exempt amounts from garnishment. Used in the event a child support garnishment was made. |
| Original Balance | Field for the original amount ordered for the garnishment. |
| Priority Number | Field for entering the garnishment priority in the event the employee has more than one garnishment order. These should be ordered according to court order date. |
| Payee Details | |
| Payee | Drop-down list containing the payees configured in Dayforce. Required. |
| Bank Code | Field for the bank code that is used in conjunction with the bank account number to identify the recipient of a transfer. |
| Account Number | Field for the bank account number that is used in conjunction with the bank code to identify the recipient of a transfer. |
| Balances | |
| Deducted TD | Read-only field for the amount deducted for the garnishment to date. Updates automatically as deductions are withheld. |
| Outstanding | Read-only field for the outstanding amount for the garnishment. |
| Final Deduction Date | Required field for the date that the final deduction is to be made. |