This article explains post-tax deductions in Workstream Payroll, which are taken out of employee paychecks after taxes are calculated. These deductions reduce net pay but don’t affect taxable income.
Types of post-tax deductions:
Child support deductions |
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Miscellaneous deductions |
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Miscellaneous garnishment deductions |
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Once post-tax deductions are added to an employee's profile, they will automatically appear in your payroll run during the payroll cycle, either when the payroll is approved or previewed.
You can also review the deduction details in the payroll journal report for compliance and tracking.
To add or manage post-tax deductions, go to their Profile › Job and Pay tab › scroll to the bottom › ⨁ Add garnishment or miscellaneous post-tax deduction.
Learn how garnishments are applied in order
The example below shows how Workstream calculates garnishment deductions when an employee has multiple garnishments with different max percent and priority values.
📝 Example:
An employee has $1,000 in disposable income for a pay period. They have four active garnishments:
Child Support A
Child Support B
Misc Garnishment A
Misc Garnishment B
How Workstream calculates garnishment deductions
In the given example, we will set it up as a table to show the amounts, the max percent, and the priority values of each garnishment deductions:
Garnishment | Type | Amount | Max Percent | Priority |
Child Support A | Child Support | $100 | 50% | - |
Child Support B | Child Support | $125 | 50% | - |
Misc Garnishment A | Miscellaneous | $150 | 25% | 1 |
Misc Garnishment B | Miscellaneous | $200 | 25% | 2 |
Step 1: Child support garnishments
Child support garnishments are always processed before miscellaneous garnishments, as required by the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA).
Each one is under the 50% max limit, so they’re deducted in full:
Garnishments | Amount Deducted |
Child Support A (Full amount deducted; under 50% max) | $100 |
Child Support B (Full amount deducted; under 50% max) | $125 |
Total | $225 |
Step 2: Miscellaneous Garnishments
Miscellaneous garnishments are calculated based on priority and whatever room is left within the limit.
Misc Garnishment A (Priority 1)
Max allowed: 25% of $1,000 = $250
Already deducted: $225
Remaining space under 25% limit: $25
Only $25 can be deducted here.
Misc Garnishment B (Priority 2)
Max allowed: 25% of $1,000 = $250
Already deducted: $225 (Child Support) + $25 (Misc A) = $250
No room left. $0 is deducted.
Garnishments | Amount Deducted |
Misc Garnishment A (out of $150 expected) | $25 |
Misc Garnishment B (out of $200 expected) | $0 |
Total | $25 |
Final deductions
Garnishments | Amount Deducted |
Child Support A (Full amount deducted; under 50% max) | $100 |
Child Support B (Full amount deducted; under 50% max) | $125 |
Misc Garnishment A (out of $150 expected) | $25 |
Misc Garnishment B (out of $200 expected) | $0 |
Total | $250 |
Add miscellaneous deductions
Follow these steps to set up one-time or recurring miscellaneous deductions from an employee's paycheck:
Accessing the employee's profile
Go to Team View, then Team.
Find the employee you want to assign a job to, then select their name to open their profile.
Go to the Job and Pay tab, then scroll to the bottom.
Select ⨁ Add garnishment or miscellaneous post-tax deduction.
Adding miscellaneous deductions
Select + New Miscellaneous Deductions.
Enter the required details for the deduction:
Description: Provide a name or brief description of the deduction.
Total Amount: Enter the total deduction amount (for one-time deductions, this will be the total deduction for the period).
Annual Limit: Specify the maximum amount to be deducted within a year.
Amount: Enter the amount to be deducted from each paycheck.
Percent: If applicable, specify the percentage of the employee's pay to be deducted.
Start and End Date: Set the start and end dates to specify the duration of the deduction. If it's a recurring deduction, leave the end date blank to apply it indefinitely.
Select Save.
Once you’ve added a miscellaneous deduction, it will automatically appear in the payroll run as a post-tax deduction.
Add child support deductions
Child support deductions are post-tax amounts withheld from an employee’s paycheck as required by a court order. Workstream automates this process by calculating the deduction, withholding the funds, and remitting payments to the designated agency.
To set up a child support deduction for an employee, follow these steps:
Accessing the employee's profile
Go to Team View, then Team.
Find the employee you want to assign a job to, then select their name to open their profile.
Go to the Job and Pay tab, then scroll to the bottom.
Select ⨁ Add garnishment or miscellaneous post-tax deduction.
Adding child support deductions
Select + New Child Support Deduction.
Enter the required details as stated in the garnishment order:
Description: Provide a name or brief description of the deduction.
Amount: Specify the amount to be deducted per pay period.
Max Percent: Enter the maximum percentage of disposable income that can be deducted, as per the order.
Agency: The state abbreviation of the agency that issued the order.
External ID: The unique identifier of the garnishment order, listed as the case number on the order.
Issue Date: The date the collections agency issued the order.
Start and End Date: Set the deduction period according to the agency notice.
If the Managed (Payment Remitted Automatically) option is selected, Check will move the withheld funds to the correct agency and file the deposit. If not selected, you must remit the payment manually.
Select Save.
Once you’ve added a child support deduction, it will automatically appear in the payroll run as a post-tax deduction.
Add miscellaneous garnishment deductions
To set up miscellaneous garnishment deductions for an employee, follow these steps:
Accessing the employee's profile
Go to Team View, then Team.
Find the employee you want to assign a job to, then select their name to open their profile.
Go to the Job and Pay tab, then scroll to the bottom.
Select ⨁ Add garnishment or miscellaneous post-tax deduction.
Adding miscellaneous garnishment deductions
Select + New Miscellaneous Garnishment Deduction.
Complete the form using the fields below:
Description: Enter a label or short explanation for the deduction (e.g., Bankruptcy Order 2025-001).
Total amount: The total amount to deduct over time. Once this is reached, the deduction will stop.
Annual limit: The maximum amount that can be deducted per calendar year. Deductions pause once this limit is reached and resume the next year.
Priority: Determines the order this garnishment is calculated. “1” is the highest priority. If multiple deductions have the same priority, older ones are applied first.
If no priority is set, the deduction is processed last.Max percent: This sets the highest percentage of a team member’s disposable income that can be taken out for a garnishment.
If you enter a Max Percent, the system will not deduct more than that percentage, even if the per-pay-period amount is higher.
If you leave Max Percent blank, the system uses federal limits by default. It will deduct the lesser of:
25% of the team member’s disposable income, or
The amount of disposable income that’s more than 30 times the federal minimum wage.
These default limits follow the Federal Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA).
Amount: A fixed dollar amount to deduct each pay period. You can only enter either an amount or a percent, not both.
Percent: A percentage of disposable income to deduct each pay period. You can only enter either a percent or an amount, not both.
Start and End Date: Set the deduction period according to the agency notice.
Select Save.
Once saved, the miscellaneous garnishment deduction will automatically appear in the payroll run as a post-tax deduction. You can preview or review it during payroll approval or in the payroll journal report.