There are several different laws or court orders which force an employer to make deductions from an employee’s pay.

Common examples are:

• Tax laws which say employers must make income tax deductions
• Social security laws where employers can be made to make deductions to recover excess Centrelink payments
• Court orders, such as garnishee orders, which tell an employer to deduct money from an employee’s pay to pay to the employee’s creditor instead.

Employers can also be directed by a Federal agency to make deductions from an employee’s pay. An example of this is child support payments.

Sometimes, employers can be penalised if they don't make these kinds of deductions.

Give us feedback on this article

Use our Feedback form to give us feedback about the information in this article.

If you have a question about pay or entitlements or need our help with a workplace issue, you can submit an online enquiry.