§491.9. Restrictions on garnishment. — Inbound Citations

(a) All legal process in the nature of garnishment shall be date and time stamped by the Authorized Agent when received for the purpose of determining the order of receipt of process which is sufficient as to legal form and contains sufficient information for identification of the employee, the Authorized Agent's date and time stamp shall be conclusive evidence. Child support and alimony garnishments will be accorded priority over commercial garnishments under 5 U.S.C. 5520a as provided in 5 U.S.C. 5520a(h)(2). Garnishments shall be executed provided that the pay cycle is open for input or, if closed, will be held until the next cycle. In no event shall the Postal Service be required to vary its normal pay or disbursement cycles in order to comply with legal process of any kind. Garnishments shall be recalculated, if required, to fit within the normal postal pay cycles. The Postal Service shall not be required to withhold pay and hold the funds in escrow. The Postal Service, in its sole discretion, may process more than one garnishment at a time within the restrictions on garnishments in Section 491.9 of these regulations. The Postal Service may, in its sole discretion, accept and hold for processing garnishments received after the garnishment currently in force.