Wage garnishment and the minimum subsistence level: what is really seizable
Updated on 5 August 2026
In brief
Your salary is seizable only for the portion exceeding your minimum subsistence level (Art. 93 para. 1 SchKG). The debt enforcement office calculates that level by adding a monthly base amount, your actual rent, basic health insurance premiums and your professional expenses. Under the guidelines of the Conference of Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Officials, the base amount is around CHF 1,200 for a single person and CHF 1,700 for a couple, plus an amount per child. Wage garnishment is ordered for a maximum of one year (Art. 93 para. 2 SchKG) and your employer is notified.
Wage garnishment is the most feared stage of the procedure — and the most misunderstood. Contrary to a widespread belief, the creditor cannot take whatever they like: the law guarantees you an untouchable subsistence minimum, calculated under precise rules that you can check and challenge.
The principle: only the surplus is seizable
Art. 93 para. 1 SchKG classifies income as relatively seizable: the office may only seize the portion exceeding what is indispensable to the debtor and their family. In practice the office draws up your subsistence budget, compares it with your net income, and only the difference is withheld each month. If your income does not exceed your subsistence minimum, no wage garnishment is possible — the proceeding then usually ends in a certificate of loss.
How the subsistence minimum is calculated
The calculation follows the guidelines of the Conference of Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Officials. It starts from a monthly base amount covering food, clothing and day-to-day expenses — in the order of CHF 1,200 for a single person and CHF 1,700 for two adults, with a supplement per child depending on age. To that are added actual rent and service charges, compulsory health insurance premiums, professional expenses (travel, meals taken away from home) and maintenance contributions actually paid. Some cantons adapt these amounts; always ask for the detailed calculation used in your file.
What is left out — and what surprises people
Debts other than the one being enforced, current taxes, optional insurance premiums and leisure spending do not enter the subsistence minimum. This explains a frequent and painful situation: someone under garnishment can no longer pay their taxes, which generates fresh proceedings. The 13th salary and bonuses are seizable pro rata. Certain assets and benefits, by contrast, remain entirely exempt (Art. 92 SchKG), notably items indispensable to the debtor and their family and certain assistance benefits.
Duration, your employer, and challenging the calculation
Wage garnishment is ordered for a maximum of one year (Art. 93 para. 2 SchKG); beyond that a fresh garnishment must be requested. The employer receives the garnishment notice and must pay the seized portion directly to the office — unavoidable at that stage, which is precisely why it pays to act earlier. If your circumstances change (a birth, a rent increase, the loss of an income), ask the office for a recalculation without delay. The garnishment record can also be challenged before the supervisory authority within ten days (Art. 17 SchKG).
Will my employer be told about the garnishment?
Yes. At the wage garnishment stage the office notifies the employer, who must withhold the seizable portion and pay it to the office. An employer does not, however, have free access to the debt enforcement register.
Can my entire salary be seized?
No. Only the portion exceeding your subsistence minimum is seizable (Art. 93 para. 1 SchKG). If your income is at or below that level, nothing is withheld.
Is the 13th salary seizable?
Yes, pro rata: it is treated as part of annual income and enters the calculation of the seizable portion.