Background information
A DEA has its own regulations which follow some of the workings of a Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO) and some workings of an Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO). A DEA does not replace any of these other orders and you may still receive requests to implement deductions for a DEO or AEO for your employees.
Your responsibilities
As an employer, you have a legal obligation to:
- Implement a Direct Earnings Attachment when we ask you to make deductions from the employee’s net earnings.
- Make payments of the amounts deducted to us by the 19th day of the month following the month the deduction is made.
- Keep a record of each deduction taken and the employee from whose earnings it was made.
- Continue to operate the DEA until Mansfield District Council advises you to stop, or your employee leaves your employment.
- Ensure that you take the right amount from your employee’s earnings each week or month and pay it to us.
If you fail to comply with your duties, you could be subject, on conviction, to a fine of up to £1000.
Providing information
a) From Mansfield District Council - we will send you a notice asking you to apply a DEA to your employee’s earnings. This will include all the information you need to have in order to set up the DEA.
b) To Mansfield District Council – you have a duty to notify us if:
- We ask you to operate a DEA for someone who does not work for you.
- An employee for whom you are operating a DEA leaves your employment.
- You are a new business (which starts between 8 April 2013 and 31 March 2014), or a micro business (having fewer than 10 employees), as defined in the Regulations. If you are a new or micro business you are not obliged to operate a DEA, although you may do so if this is agreed with your employee.
You must write to us at the address shown on the DEA request letter within 10 days of the date of that letter if any of the above applies to you. You should also let us know if your business ceases trading.
c) To your employee – you have a duty to notify your employee in writing of:
- The amount of the deduction taken, including any amount taken for administrative costs. (see section 6 (f) on administrative costs). If this information is shown on their payslip, it will suffice.
- How that deduction was calculated.
You must do this (and record it) no later than the payday after the one on which the deduction for the DEA was taken.
If, after reading through this guidance, you still have unanswered queries, please telephone the Sundry Debt Recovery Team on 01623 463153 or 463180.