5 bucks a week to send my child support?

[Catatonic]

1. $5 per week for a part-time employee is not "reasonable", especially when the company is making a profit off of it.

2. The OP didnt make "poor choices", he was married and then divorced and is now paying child support in a state that requires his wages to be garnished. There is a difference between wage garnishments resulting from failure to pay bills versus wage garnishments that are in place to comply with state laws for child support.

3. $5 per week might seem like a "minor consequence" if you are a full-time management person or a driver who makes $60K per year or more. Its not a "minor consequence" if you are a part timer making $12 an hour for less than 20 hours per week.

The underlying issue here is the fact that the company is taking advantage of the law to make a profit off of the child support being paid by a part time employee, in effect taking money that ought to be going towards the child. I find it hypocritical that the company selectively chooses which automatic deductions it charges a fee for.

1. Other than you and Redman, no else appears to think UPS is making any money off a $5 transactional charge.

2) A marriage that ends in divorce is obviously a "poor choice". Come on dude!

3) $260 per year is not a big deal for a young person with a job ... that's a couple of big macs a week.

You are the only one who has latched onto your underlying criticisms <sic>. I can empathize with that aspect but that was never part of the discussion until you tried to justify another one of your critical lashing out against UPS.

 

[Catatonic]

This was my entire point; if UPS is truly concerned with helping the less fortunate by donating to United Way, perhaps some of that charity ought to be directed towards its own low-income employees by waiving the fees it charges for child support garnishments.

Well we finally know what exactly your point was.
You and Dave make a good communication team.

 

[Catatonic]

The inability to distinguish criticism from hatred is a common flaw among those with limited intellect or a blind and unthinking loyalty towards a particular entity.

You miss your doppleganger Tieguy don't you.

 

[Kae3106]

Good point! I am willing to pay the true cost!

If you would like, PM me and I will give you the direct phone number for the garnishment department. You can check to make sure you are set up correctly for your state. It's possible your state is $5/month but you were set up as $5/payment. You could even ask if they would be able to do a hardship fee waiver or reduction...not sure if they can do that or not but I can at least get you in touch with the right people.

 

[Catatonic]

If you would like, PM me and I will give you the direct phone number for the garnishment department. You can check to make sure you are set up correctly for your state. It's possible your state is $5/month but you were set up as $5/payment. You could even ask if they would be able to do a hardship fee waiver or reduction...not sure if they can do that or not but I can at least get you in touch with the right people.

That would be cool!

This time, I hope I am just too cynical and wrong.

 

[Dracula]

That would be cool!

This time, I hope I am just too cynical and wrong.

Come on, don't start now...

 

[toonertoo]

Havent read the whole thread, it is called poundage. It is an amount your govt, charges you to send your money to the ex. It is not ups. lthough they may cahrge too. It used to be 75 cents per every 25 dollars in my state. We have to pay the govt workers to do what they do even though we already pay them

 

[soberups]

You are the only one who has latched onto your underlying criticisms <sic>. I can empathize with that aspect but that was never part of the discussion until you tried to justify another one of your critical lashing out against UPS.

I wasn't "lashing out"....I was merely calling attention to the double standard involved in the company's decision to apply a $5 fee for child support or other involuntary garnishments while at the same time waiving the fee for voluntary withdrawals such as United Way contributions.

 

[brownmonster]

Be careful what you wish for since you have no idea of the "true cost" to administer and execute the "Garnishment Distribution" system and process at UPS. If UPS were to spend the time to analyze all the cost for this and determine an average cost per transaction, I am pretty sure you would be paying a lot more than $5 per month.

​Go forth and fight your windmills and you will learn something regardless of the outcome.

​5 bucks a month is reasonable. 5 bucks a week is what he is paying.

 

[Returntosender]

You miss your doppleganger Tieguy don't you.

Doppleganger you watch the Vampire Dairies?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I wonder if the OP can claim this as an unreimbursed job expense on his income taxes.

$5/week for 52 weeks is $260.

 

[pretender]

I wonder if the OP can claim this as an unreimbursed job expense on his income taxes.

$5/week for 52 weeks is $260.

I am guessing that he does not itemize deductions.

 

[Catatonic]

​5 bucks a month is reasonable. 5 bucks a week is what he is paying.

Whatever is reasonable (I and no one else on BC knows what that number is) logically should be based on transactional frequency.

The amount per transaction in this instance is determined and specified by the State government.

UPS can make the amount charged any amount per transaction as long as it is equal to or less than the State government specified transaction charge.

Anything else is simply a person's opinion which I respect.

I personally do not have an opinion on the amount which should be charged because I do not know the cost to provide the service.

I personally wish the charge by UPS to part-timers was zero.

 

[gingerkat]

I wonder if the OP can claim this as an unreimbursed job expense on his income taxes.

$5/week for 52 weeks is $260.

First things first. If he were to claim this "unreimbursed business expense" on his 1040, it would have to be 2% above his AGI. Guessing from his part time status, he probably doesn't make enough to be using anything but the standard deduction. Next and probably the most important fact here, if you were to get asked what the expense was, there would be a problem. Deductions for child support or fee's towards it on your taxes is disallowed.

OP, it sucks that you have to pay to pay. I personally believe my money is MY money and don't like it taken from me no matter what the amount. In my original post I didn't realize some states you are forced to pay child support that way. You know that saying "you can't fight city hall"? Well, maybe it applies here for you. You might keep at it, but never get the results you want. How much stress and inconvenience is it worth to you? How long will you continue to fight for something you just can't win? Good luck on your endeavors …

 

[redman024]

Im paying 20 a month!

 

[redman024]

I wonder if the OP can claim this as an unreimbursed job expense on his income taxes.

$5/week for 52 weeks is $260.

Oh I do!

 

[soberups]

Whatever is reasonable (I and no one else on BC knows what that number is) logically should be based on transactional frequency.

The amount per transaction in this instance is determined and specified by the State government.

UPS can make the amount charged any amount per transaction as long as it is equal to or less than the State government specified transaction charge.

Anything else is simply a person's opinion which I respect.

I personally do not have an opinion on the amount which should be charged because I do not know the cost to provide the service.

I personally wish the charge by UPS to part-timers was zero.

I have no problem with the idea of UPS charging a fee for garnishments that are the result of being in arears to creditors.

It just doesnt seem fair to charge someone for a child support garnishment that is state-mandated and is not the result of financial irresponsibility on the part of the garnishee.

The fee being charged is also magnified by the fact that we are paid weekly, not monthly or bi-weekly. Ideally, there would be a way for the garnishee to set up his child support payments so that they were taken out of one paycheck per month, in a lump sum. A $5 monthly fee is a lot easier to deal with than a $5 weekly fee, which adds up to a significant amount of money for a part timer.

Remember that this is about child support. Every dollar that is paid out in fees is a dollar less that is ultimately available for the benefit of the child.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Remember that this is about child support. Every dollar that is paid out in fees is a dollar less that is ultimately available for the benefit of the child.

I will use New York as an example. Child support is set at 17% of gross weekly earnings for one child, 25% for two children, 29% for three, 31% for four and 35% for five or more. The administrative fee employers are allowed to collect from employees who are court-ordered to pay child support is in addition to the above numbers, which would not change if the employer opted not to collect the fee.

I was paying $250/week in child support. I paid my ex directly. Had I been court-ordered to pay this support through wage garnishment with a fee of $5/week the amount would have remained unchanged.

 

[Catatonic]

I have no problem with the idea of UPS charging a fee for garnishments that are the result of being in arears to creditors.

It just doesnt seem fair to charge someone for a child support garnishment that is state-mandated and is not the result of financial irresponsibility on the part of the garnishee.

The fee being charged is also magnified by the fact that we are paid weekly, not monthly or bi-weekly. Ideally, there would be a way for the garnishee to set up his child support payments so that they were taken out of one paycheck per month, in a lump sum. A $5 monthly fee is a lot easier to deal with than a $5 weekly fee, which adds up to a significant amount of money for a part timer.

Remember that this is about child support. Every dollar that is paid out in fees is a dollar less that is ultimately available for the benefit of the child.

Don't forget that your real point from the beginning is UPS could/should do this free of charge as a charity or goodwill to one of its employees.
If you stay true to your "original" point then your message will stay on target.

 

[soberups]

Don't forget that your real point from the beginning is UPS could/should do this free of charge as a charity or goodwill to one of its employees.
If you stay true to your "original" point then your message will stay on target.

That was never my point.

I was merely questioning the ethics of UPS arbitrarily charging the maximum amount allowable according to state law regardless of the actual costs incurred.

My wife is the finance and Human Resources manager for a local company. She is personally and directly responsible for handling all garnishments and payroll issues. I asked her about this very question and according to her, some garnishments are indeed complex and time-consuming. Others are simple and routine, and once they are set up the money is deducted automatically with no additional time or effort on her part. In no case that she deals with would it be appropriate or fair to charge an employee $20-$25 per month in fees.

The ethical thing for UPS to do....would be to at least work with the affected employees to minimize the amount of time and effort required (and fees charged) to process these garnishments. Arbitrarily charging a PT employee the maximum $5 per week allowed by law without offering him any recourse whatsoever is not an ethical business practice.