Last year, the Small Business Chamber successfully opposed a bill that would have required a business to garnish the wages of a worker for commercial debt owed by that employee. Often an employee will have a business on the side and incur commercial debt that they do not pay. A wage garnishment for commercial debts law would force the primary employer of that worker to garnish the wages and give the money to the business owed the debt.
The Small Business Chamber believes that small businesses should not be forced to become a bill collector for another company’s debt collection problem. Being forced to garnish an employee’s wages will almost assuredly cause a morale problem with that employee, may cause that employee to quit to avoid the garnishment, would certainly add to the administrative work load and could expose the business to unforeseen liabilities.
A wage garnishment for commercial debt bill, S.106, has again been introduced this year. The Small Business Chamber will once again oppose this bill.