Social Security Administration to Resume Administrative Wage Garnishment After Pandemic-Era Pause
The U.S. Social Security Administration updated its program policy instructions on November 5, announcing that it will resume issuing Administrative Wage Garnishment (AWG) packages to the employers of eligible debtors. The packages direct employers to withhold a portion of an employee's wages to recover delinquent debts.
Under the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996, federal agencies may administratively garnish up to 15 percent of a delinquent debtor's disposable pay without obtaining a court order. The Social Security Administration suspended administrative wage garnishment in March 2020 because of the economic hardships associated with the COVID-19 pandemic; the update restarts the collection tool after a pause of more than six years.
The update covers two Program Operations Manual System transmittals — general information on Title II, Title XVI and Title XVIII overpayments (SI 02221 TN 88) and recovery procedures for Supplemental Security Income overpayments (SI 02220 TN 143) — and includes system and program enhancements requiring corresponding updates to agency policies and procedures.
An overpayment is money the agency paid a beneficiary beyond the amount due, which by law must be recovered.
(Source: U.S. Social Security Administration)
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：佐治亚州格里芬的社会保障局办公大楼。Michael Rivera 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A Social Security Administration building in Griffin, Georgia. Photo by Michael Rivera, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
