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The Child Maintenance Service can ask you to:

• give information about an employee
• deduct child maintenance from an employee鈥檚 earnings
• send an employee鈥檚 child maintenance payments to the Child Maintenance Service

Deduction from earnings order (DEO)

DEOs are a way of collecting child maintenance directly from a paying parent鈥檚 earnings or pension.

The paying parent is the parent who does not have main day-to-day care of the child.

When you鈥檒l get a DEO

You鈥檒l be sent a DEO if your employee is a paying parent who:

• chooses to pay child maintenance direct from their earnings
• does not already pay child maintenance that they owe
• does not pay the correct amount
• does not pay on time

Your legal obligations when deducting child maintenance

By law, you must:

• give information to the Child Maintenance Service if you鈥檙e asked to
• send payments as soon as possible, to arrive no later than the 19th day of the month after the month you made the deduction
• tell the Child Maintenance Service immediately if there are any problems with taking payments from a paying parent鈥檚 earnings
• make regular deductions

You must deduct the amount of child maintenance stated on the deduction from earnings order (DEO) from your employee鈥檚 net earnings or pension.

How it works

1. Check what counts as earnings.

2. Calculate 60% of your employee鈥檚 net earnings (known as their 鈥榩rotected earnings鈥�).

3. Make the deduction from your employee鈥檚 net earnings - as long as it leaves them with their protected earnings.

4. Take off an extra 拢1 towards your administrative costs (if you want to).

5. Send the deduction to the Child Maintenance Service.

If you鈥檙e unable to deduct the full amount from their protected earnings, you must send an updated payment schedule to the Child Maintenance Service.

How to calculate protected earnings

You must make sure that your deduction leaves your employee with at least 60% of their net earnings (known as 鈥榩rotected earnings鈥�).

You can still deduct the 拢1 administrative cost if it takes your employee鈥檚 income below their protected earnings rate - but not if it takes their income below the National Minimum Wage.

If you can deduct the full amount from your employee鈥檚 protected earnings

Deduct the full amount from your employee鈥檚 earnings if it does not affect their protected earnings. Send it to the Child Maintenance Service as soon as you make the deduction.

If you cannot deduct the full amount from your employee鈥檚 protected earnings

If you cannot deduct the full amount, you must:

• send any deduction you鈥檝e been able to make to the Child Maintenance Service
• keep a record of the unpaid difference
• send an updated payment schedule to the Child Maintenance Service

You must calculate the unpaid difference, plus the regular amount your employee owes in child maintenance the next time you pay them. You must still leave your employee with their protected earnings.

If the unpaid difference is carried forward for several weeks before being repaid, keep a record of the ongoing amount.

If you pay your employee holiday pay in advance

You鈥檒l have to:

• calculate your employee鈥檚 total net earnings for the pay period
• multiply the protected earnings and the deduction by the number of weeks in the pay period
• send the deduction to the Child Maintenance Service

If you need to deduct other debts from your employees pay

If your employee has other debt to pay, for example council tax debt, a court can issue:

• an Attachment of Earnings Order (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
• Earnings Arrestment Order (Scotland)

How you prioritise a deduction depends on which country the order was issued in.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a DEO takes priority unless you have received a priority Attachment of Earnings Order (AEO) for your employee.

In Scotland, a DEO takes priority over other deductions.

A deduction from earnings order (DEO) can only be made from an employee鈥檚 net earnings.

When calculating a DEO amount, net earnings means earnings after the deduction of:

• Income Tax
• Class 1 National Insurance
• pension or superannuation contributions

You can make a deduction from the following earnings:

• wages, fees, bonus, commission, overtime pay or any payments on top of wages
• private or occupational pensions and compensation payments
• Statutory Sick Pay
• contractual sick pay
• contractual maternity pay
• contractual paternity pay
• contractual adoption pay
• contractual redundancy pay

What does not count as earnings

You cannot make a deduction from any of the following:

• amounts paid by a public department of the government of Northern Ireland or any country outside the UK
• any social security pension, allowance or benefit
• tax credits
• any pension or allowance paid for disability
• guaranteed minimum pension within the Social Security Pensions Act 1975
• Statutory Maternity Pay
• Statutory Paternity Pay
• Statutory Adoption Pay
• Statutory Redundancy Pay

If any of these payments are your employee鈥檚 only income, do not make a deduction. You should update your payment schedule.

Send deduction from earnings order (DEO) payments to the Child Maintenance Service as soon as you make a deduction.

If you cannot make the full deduction you must send an updated payment schedule to the Child Maintenance Service by post or online.

If you have more than one employee with a DEO, send each payment separately.

Paying the Child Maintenance Service

You can pay by:

• using the online service
• calling the Child Maintenance Service Employer Payment Team
• using the Banks Automated Clearing System (Bacs), Faster Payments or CHAPS transfer
• sending a cheque to the Child Maintenance Service

Pay using the online service

You can . You need to contact the Child Maintenance Service Employer Payment Team to register.

Pay by phone

Phone the Child Maintenance Service Employer Payment Team.

Pay by Bacs, Faster Payments or CHAPS

You can make a transfer from your bank account by either Bacs, Faster Payments or CHAPS.

You should use:

• sort code: 60 70 80
• account number: 10026584
• account name: DWPCMGEMPLOYER
• account code: 0
• transaction code: 99

You鈥檒l need to give the employee鈥檚 National Insurance number as the reference.

Pay by cheque

Send a cheque made payable to 鈥楥hild Maintenance Service鈥�.

The cheque must:

• match the amount on the payment schedule
• have your employer reference number on the back - this is a 12-digit number starting with 5
• have your employee鈥檚 National Insurance number on the back

If you have more than one employee with a DEO, send a copy of your payment schedule with the cheque.

If you need help with a payment

You can either:

• call the Child Maintenance Service Employer Payment Team

Tell your employee

You must tell your employee in writing about each deduction when you give them their payslip. Include whether you have taken 拢1 administrative costs.

You鈥檒l get a monthly payment schedule by post after you鈥檝e been sent a deduction from earnings order (DEO).

It will tell you all your employees who have a DEO and the amount due for each employee.

You must send an updated payment schedule to the Child Maintenance Service if you cannot send the full deduction amount.

You must include how much you鈥檝e deducted and why you鈥檝e not been able to deduct the full amount.

How to send an updated payment schedule

You can .

You can also fill in the form you received in the post and send or email it to the Child Maintenance Service Employer Payment Team.

You must contact the Child Maintenance Service within 10 days if:

• you鈥檙e asked to set up a deduction from earnings order (DEO) for someone who does not work for you
• there鈥檚 a problem setting up an employee鈥檚 DEO
• your employee leaves your employment
• your business stops trading

How to contact the Child Maintenance Service

You can either:

• call the Child Maintenance Service Employer Payment Team