Garnishment and set-offs

This section describes the roles and responsibilities of Finance and the Pay Centre in processing garnishments and set-offs.

On this page

• Process definition
• Finance responsibilities
• Pay Centre responsibilities

Process definition

Garnishments and set-offs are deductions mandated by the Department of Justice or the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Finance responsibilities

Finance is responsible for:

• section 33 authorization of the transaction in Phoenix
• issuing garnishment payments to the third party, as directed by the court order, and set-off payments as mandated by CRA and requisitioned by the Pay Centre
• reconciling the garnishment amount with accounts payable to the court

Upon receipt of notice from the Pay Centre, finance is responsible for:

• obtaining the appropriate section 34 signature from the delegated position in the organization
• managing the garnishment payment, such as the Payables Manager and issuing cheques to third parties, as per the garnishment instructions

Pay Centre responsibilities

Upon receipt of notice of any garnishments from the Department of Justice and notice of any set-offs from CRA, the Pay Centre is responsible for:

• notifying departmental finance of  the garnishment via GC 80
  • including the schedule of deductions and pertinent details of the case

• entering the garnishment information into Phoenix
• notifying the employee about the garnishment deduction

If the employee is separating from the public service, transferring to another department within the public service, or taking a leave, the Pay Centre should inform the employee’s departmental finance organization.