Wage garnishment in Illinois

By Kai Greenspan, Founding Editor · Last updated: September 3, 2026

A judgment, then a summons to your employer

Wage garnishment in Illinois is a step in enforcing a court judgment, not something a collector can do on its own. Part 8 of Article XII of the Code of Civil Procedure, titled Wage Deductions, defines the parties in Section 12-801: a “Judgment debtor” means “a person against whom a judgment has been obtained”, and “Wages” means “any hourly pay, salaries, commissions, bonuses, or other compensation owed by an employer to a judgment debtor”.

The mechanism is a summons to the employer, and it starts in the court that gave the judgment. Under Section 12-805, when a judgment creditor files an affidavit that it believes an employer owes the debtor wages, together with written interrogatories for the employer to answer, “the clerk of the court in which the judgment was entered shall issue summons against the person named in the affidavit as employer”. The affidavit has to carry a certification “that, before filing the affidavit, the wage deduction notice has been mailed to the judgment debtor by first class mail at the judgment debtor’s last known address”, and the summons goes out with a copy of the judgment or a certification of it and a copy of that notice. So you hear first, by post, and the paperwork names the court, the case and the amount.

One judgment cannot be used this way at all. Section 12-813 provides that“A judgment by confession without service of process on the defendant” shall not be the basis for seeking a deduction order. A collector that has not sued you and won, with you served, has nothing to give the clerk.

Sources: Code of Civil Procedure Sections 12-801, 12-805 and 12-813 · quoted 3 September 2026

The cap, and the minimum-wage floor under it

Section 12-803 sets the ceiling, and it is the lesser of two figures. The wages, salary, commissions and bonuses subject to collection under a deduction order, for any work week,“shall be the lesser of (1) 15% of such gross amount paid for that week or (2) the amount by which disposable earnings for a week exceed 45 times the Federal Minimum Hourly Wage” or, under a summons served on or after 1 January 2006, the Illinois minimum hourly wage, “whichever is greater, in effect at the time the amounts are payable”.

The second figure is the floor. Forty-five hours at the higher of the two minimum wages is untouchable, and only what sits above it can be reached, which for many workers is less than 15 percent of the whole. The section defines “disposable earnings”as “that part of the earnings of any individual remaining after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld”, and adds that “No amounts required by law to be withheld may be taken from the amount collected by the creditor.” It also says the rule applies“irrespective of the place where the compensation was earned or payable and the State where the employee resides”.

Source: Section 12-803 · quoted 3 September 2026

What is exempt outright

Section 12-804 takes retirement money off the table entirely: “Benefits and refunds payable by pension or retirement funds or systems and any assets of employees held by such funds or systems, and any monies an employee is required to contribute to such funds or systems are exempt and are not subject to a deduction order”, and a plan governed by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 counts as a retirement fund for this purpose.

Source: Section 12-804 · quoted 3 September 2026

What your employer must do

Section 12-808 sets the employer’s duties once served. First, “An employer served as herein provided shall pay the employee the amount of his or her exempt wages.” Second, to the extent of the amount due on the judgment and costs,“the employer shall hold, subject to order of court, any non-exempt wages due or which subsequently come due”. The judgment is a lien on wages due when the summons is served, and the lien continues on later earnings until the judgment and costs are paid, “except that such lien on subsequent earnings shall terminate sooner if the employment relationship is terminated or if the underlying judgment is vacated or modified”. The employer answers the court’s questions under oath and must send you a copy of that answer by first class mail or by hand.

Source: Section 12-808 · quoted 3 September 2026

Disputing the deduction

You do not have to accept the employer’s arithmetic or the creditor’s claim. Section 12-811 provides that at any time on or before the return date on the summons,“the judgment debtor may request a hearing to dispute the wage deduction because the wages are exempt by notifying the clerk of court before that time”, using the clerk’s forms. The section sets out how, and it differs between counties with a population of a million or more, where notice is given in person and in writing at the clerk’s office or by appearing on the summons date, and smaller counties, where written notice to the clerk on or before the return date suffices. The clerk then sets a hearing date, and both sides may contest the employer’s answer before the court enters or refuses the deduction order.

Source: Section 12-811 · quoted 3 September 2026

Common questions about garnishment in Illinois

This page is information about published law, not legal advice, and it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Whether any exemption applies to a particular judgment or pay packet depends on facts this page cannot know. Every quotation above was taken from the linked source on the date shown; if you find an error, our corrections policy explains how to tell us.

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