A payroll check may be garnished for several reasons, including the failure to pay child support or if you owe the IRS or the state of California in back taxes. However, there is a maximum amount that a payroll check can be garnished to allow you to have money to live on in a reasonable fashion. California adheres to the federal law in terms of the maximum amount that can be taken from a paycheck to satisfy these debts. Under federal law, your payroll check can be garnished the lesser amount of two options. First, 25% of your disposable income, or income left after all necessary deductions are taken from the check including taxes, and unemployment can be garnished from your paycheck. However, voluntary contributions like health insurance or retirement benefits, are not included in this amount. Or, the state of California can garnish your wages the amount by which your weekly income is greater than 30 times the current minimum wage. In California, the current minimum wage is $8.00 per hour, and the weekly total is $240. Therefore, anything over this amount that you earn per week may be garnished.