How do most enployees react when called to HR to recieve notification of court ordered wage garnishment?

Question

I was chagrined and extremely embarrassed to recieve a copy of the order from our payroll manager as I rely on my wife to handle our finances, and had no idea we had fallen so far behind in our credit card debt. I know we were sent notification of both pending litigation and of the actual court date, but my wife either blew them off or did not realize the signifigance of them, and never informed me. So I know it is possible for an employee to not know in advance.

Answer 1

sorry for the embarrassment

unless you work for a financial institution then all it will be is an embarrassment though it will come out of your wage like a student loan. you could check all your finances and make as big a payment as you can afford so that the amount they take from your wage will be minimal.

in the meantime when it comes to finances don't leave it to your wife, my husband trusts me to organise both our wages and expenses etc but i always show hI'm what im doing and let him know late payments and things so he can double check it.

Don't go mad at your wife sometimes late payment letters can look like spam but he mistake has led to this huge personal and professional embarrassment for you so for a while you need to do the paperwork together

good luck sweetie

Answer 2

If you had no idea, that frankly is not the employer's problem.  Your problem, apparently, is letting your wife "handle the finances."

Answer 3

Hate to add to your chagrin and embarrasment and know how you feel, but shouldn't you be asking yourself some other more urgent questions first?

If it is any consolation, don't bother about the embarrasment. I used to do HR in a multi national and these "events" were boring routine, yes, that is how often it happens.

There are other very loud and very obvious signals you should be paying attention to, unfortunately, they belong in the area of privacy, so don't expect anyone to venture into this delicate arena.

Time for you to start getting a little involved in your personal finance situation and propose to your partner to share some of the burden of managing home finances. A great opportunity to get together and consolidate your relationship while tackling some practical problems. Take advantage.