The Attachment of Earnings Act 1971 (“the 1971 Act”) allows a court to order you, or your company, to make deductions from the earnings of an employee to recover unpaid civil judgment debts (county courts).
The form that the court sends you will identify which type of attachment order you are being asked to operate.
Maintenance and fines are priority orders and take ‘priority’ among themselves and other priority orders by date they were issued.
How to Operate an AEO
An AEO tells you:
If your employee works at a different location to your office, the work can be done by a payroll administrator or a branch manager and you can ask the court to send further correspondence to an alternative address.
Under the 1971 Act you must:
Failing to comply with an AEO, or failing to give the required notice within the time limits, are offences under the 1971 Act, subject to a fine that can be imposed on you or yourorganisation or a term of imprisonment up to 14 days. If you have any questions relating
to the Order, or require clarification, you must contact the court or CAPS immediately.
The court will tell you in writing if it:
1) Go to Payroll, and select the employee from the listing
2) Under Additions & Deductions, click the Add button
3) Select Attachment Orders…
4) Click ‘Add Attachment Order’ and select the appropriate Attachment Order from the listing.
TYPES AND DATES
1) Enter a description for the Attachment Order.
2) Enter the reference number of the Attachment Order, which can be found on the documentation received.
3) Enter the date the Order was made.
4) Enter the date to apply the Order from.
5) Enter the date to stop – the Order should only be stopped once the full amount of the Order has been paid or you have received notification from the Courts to stop it.
AMOUNTS AND STATUS
1) Priority – tick the box provided if the Order is a priority order.
2) Periodic amount - enter the periodic amount to be deducted, as stated on the Order.
3) Protected Earnings – enter the Protected Earnings Ratefor the employee, as stated on the Order.
4) Admin Charge – tick the box provided if you, the employer, wish to deduct £1 as an administration charge for operating the Order.
5) Enter the total amount to be paid.
6) Cumulative amount paid at start - if the employee has already paid some of the attachment (for example in a previous employment) enter the amount here.
7) Enter any Year to Date deductions, if applicable
8) Click Save.
NOTES
Use the Notes section to enter any relevant notes relating to the employee's attachment order.
BrightPay will now apply the Attachment Order on the employee’s payslip from the relevant period.
Need help? Support is available at 0345 9390019 or [email protected].