Wage attachment (or "wage attachment")
Verified 01 April 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)
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Wage foreclosure (or wage foreclosure) is the process of taking a portion of an employee's salary, regardless of their employment contract, to pay off their debt. The employee now receives only part of his salary. But the amount paid to the employee may not be less than the amount of the elusive bank balance (SBI).
Fulfill the conditions
The creditor must have a enforceable title noting a claim cash (amount quantified and not disputed by the debtor) and due (payment due).
The creditor seeking to obtain unpaid maintenance may resort to this procedure. However, it may prefer to initiate a procedure for direct payment (procedure for recovering unpaid payments from the application up to 6 months before the application).
Appeal to the judge
Who is the competent judge?
The competent judge shall be the enforcement judge of the court of law on which the debtor's domicile depends. If the debtor is resident abroad or has no known domicile, this is the enforcement judge of the court on which the domicile of the debtor's employer depends.
Who can take the matter to the judge?
The creditor may himself bring the matter before the judge, or call upon a lawyer, or a bailiff (now called the commissioner of justice) or notary within the jurisdiction of the competent court, or any other person who has a power of attorney.
How do I seize the judge?
In order to bring a case before the judge, the court’s registry must file or send a letter to the court’s registry request, accompanied by a copy of the enforceable title.
The request can be written on free paper or be made with the cerfa form n°15708:
Request Wage Attachment (or Wage Attachment)
The request must contain the following information:
- Name, forenames, occupation, domicile, nationality, date and place of birth of the creditor
- The name and address of the person against whom the application is made, or, if the application is legal person, its name and registered office
- Subject matter of the request
- Name and address of the debtor's employer
- Separate statement of the amounts claimed in principal (i.e. the amount initially due), the costs and interest due and the indication of the interest rate
- Information concerning the payment of seized amounts
Summons to the hearing
The creditor and the debtor shall be convened at least 15 days before the date of the conciliation hearing.
FYI
At the hearing, it is possible to be represented in particular by lawyer (fee-based approach).
During the hearing
The enforcement judge tries to reach an agreement between the creditor and the debtor, in particular by granting payment deadlines or by providing for reimbursement by partial payments.
If the debtor does not appear, the judge may order the seizure, unless he considers it necessary to reconvene.
At the end of the hearing
The hearing is concluded differently, depending on whether or not an agreement has been reached between the creditor and the debtor:
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Agreement is reached
A conciliation report shall be drawn up. It is signed by the creditor and the debtor. Wage attachment does not occur.
However, if the debtor fails to comply with the commitments he made at the hearing, the creditor may request the registry of the court to proceed with the attachment without further attempt at conciliation.
Who shall I contact
The disagreement persists
2 possible outcomes, depending on whether or not the debtor contested the proceedings during the hearing:
The debtor did not contest the seizure
A non-conciliation report shall be drawn up.
It shall indicate the amount of the claim for which attachment may be made by the Director of the Judicial Registry Services.
Within 8 days of the hearing, a notice of attachment is sent by registered letter with notice of receipt to the debtor's employer. The debtor shall receive a copy of the attachment document by simple letter.
The debtor contested the seizure
A non-conciliation report shall be drawn up.
The enforcement judge shall decide on the challenge immediately or at a subsequent hearing.
The judgment shall enable the Director of the Judicial Registry Services to have the attachment order drawn up.
Within 8 days of the expiry of the time-limits for appealing against the judgment, the Registrar of the Court shall send a act of attachment by registered letter with notice of receipt to the debtor's employer. The debtor shall receive a copy of it by simple letter.
The attachment order is sent by registered letter with notice of receipt to the employer of the debtor. If the debtor works as an interim worker, the attachment notice is sent to the temporary company of work.
The debtor shall receive a copy of the notice of attachment by simple letter.
The attachment order include the following information:
- Name, forenames and domicile of the debtor and creditor or, in the case of legal person, its name and registered office
- Statement of the sums for which seizure is practiced (principal, costs and interest due) and indication of the interest rate
- Method of calculating the seizable fraction and how its payment is made
Please note
Under no circumstances may the creditor apply directly to the employer for seizure. However, in the case of maintenance, the act of attachment can be made directly by a commissioner of justice (formerly bailiff and judicial auctioneer).
The employer shall be informed by notification (registered letter with notice of receipt) of a act of attachment (or notice of attachment).
Within 15 days, he must inform the court:
- The situation of the employee in the company (e.g. CDD or CDI)
- And any other ongoing seizures of this employee
FYI
An employer who fails to inform the court registry shall incur up to €10,000 of fine. He may also be ordered to pay damages.
Monthly, the employer must pay to the court registry the seizable sum, without interruption until the end of the seizure notified by the Registrar. An employer who fails to make such payments may be ordered to pay the employee's debt personally.
At any time, the employer must inform the court of a change which may suspend or terminate the seizure (e.g. sick leave of the employee concerned) within 8 days.
Most of the time, the amount of income that can be seized is calculated from the cumulative net wages received in the preceding 12 months the act of attachment.
Net salary includes the following:
- Salary (net of CSG: titleContent, of the CRDS: titleContent and withholding tax)
- Pay increases for overtime
- Benefits in kind
Please note
Where the employee receives wages from more than one employer, the seizable income is calculated on the total of these sums.
But the amount of income that can be seized also includes:
- Supplementary allowances in the event of reduced working hours (unemployment, partial, temporary half-time)
- Return to Employment Benefit (RWA)
- Solidarity allowance for the elderly (Aspa)
- Unemployment benefits (allowances, aids and any other benefits paid by France Travail - formerly Pôle emploi -)
- Voluntary retirement allowance
- Accident at work Sickness, maternity and child benefit
- Disability pensions and annuities
- Retirement and survivors' pensions
In addition, family benefits can be claimed only in certain cases and for the payment of certain claims only.
However, some amounts are not included in the seizable income:
- Disabled adult allowance (AAH) and independent living allowance (MVA), except for the payment of maintenance costs for the disabled person
- Custom Battery Allowance (Apa)
- Specific Solidarity Allowance (SSA)
- Capital allowances or annuities for accidents at work
- Severance pay as a result of the company's economic situation
- Redundancy payments
- Retirement allowances
- Allowances representative of professional expenses
- Conventional severance pay
- Activity bonus
- Participation and profit-sharing premiums
- Active Solidarity Income (RSA)
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General case
Calculation of the maximum amount of the entry
Only a fraction of the seizable income can be withheld by the employer.
This graspable share is determined by a scale defined for a single living debtor.
Total monthly seizable resources | Seizable part | Maximum amount of the entry (cumulative amount) | |
|---|---|---|---|
1re slice | Up to €364.17 | 1/20e | €18.21 |
2e slice | Beyond €364.17 and up to €710.00 | 1/10e | €52.79 |
3e slice | Beyond €710.00 and up to €1,057.50 | 1/5e | €122.29 |
4e slice | Beyond €1,057.50 and up to €1,401.67 | 1/4 | €208.33 |
5e slice | Beyond €1,401.67 and up to €1,747.50 | 1/3 | €323.61 |
6e slice | Beyond €1,747.50 and up to €2,100.00 | 2/3 | €558.61 |
7e slice | Beyond €2,100.00 | 100% | €558.61 + all sums above €2,100.00 |
Example :
- For the debtor whose total monthly seizable resources is €1,500, the amount of the seizure may be up to €323.61 - ((€1,747.50 - €1,500) x 1/3) = €241.11 per month.
- For the debtor whose total monthly seizable resources is €2,500, the amount of the seizure may be up to €558.61 + (2 500 - €2,100.00) =€958.61 per month.
The amount of the installments shall be increased, for each dependent of the debtor, by €140.83.
Dependants of the debtor shall be, on presentation of evidence, the following:
- Spouse, partner of Civil partnerships: titleContent or cohabiting partner whose resources are less than €635.70
- Dependent children (living with or for whom support is paid)
- Ascending whose resources are less than €635.70 and who lives with him or for whom he pays alimony.
FYI
It is mandatory to leave at the disposal of the debtor elusive bank balance (SBI), which means at least €635.70.
Estimated amount of seizure
The maximum amount that can be captured can be estimated using a simulator:
Estimate the amount of wage attachment (or wage attachment)
Warning
The nature and amount of the amount seized must be indicated on the pay slip, otherwise the employer will be penalized.
Unpaid maintenance
Seizable income may be seized in its entirety, except for the elusive bank balance (SBI).
The SBI is the minimum amount that must be left with the debtor.
This sum shall be at least equal to €635.70.
Warning
The nature and amount of the amount seized must be indicated on the pay slip, otherwise the employer will be penalized.
The release seizure may take place:
- Either after a written agreement between the debtor and the creditor was transmitted to the registry of the court
- That is after the judge has determined that the debt is fully repaid.
To do this, the debtor must file his application or send it by registered letter to the court registry.
Release of the seizure shall be notified to the debtor's employer within 8 days of the judge's decision.
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