Make child maintenance deductions from an employee’s pay

The Child Support Agency (CSA) is a service provided by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission. Its aim is to make sure that parents who live apart from their children contribute towards their upkeep by paying child maintenance.

Employers play an important role, working in partnership with the CSA, in helping parents meet the financial responsibility of bringing up their children. That role could involve:

• helping the CSA to collect information about your employees so that they can work out child maintenance
• setting up deduction from earnings orders
• responding to enquiries from the organisations the CSA uses to collect payments of child maintenance on its behalf

This guide explains your legal obligations as an employer for collecting child maintenance from your employees, often referred to as non-resident parents.

It will also explain how you should make deductions from earnings and how to send payments to the CSA.

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Your legal obligations for deducting child maintenance

As an employer, you have a number of legal obligations relating to deducting child maintenance from an employee’s pay. By law, you must:

• provide information to the Child Support Agency (CSA) when requested
• send payments to the CSA as soon as possible, but no later than the 19th day of the month following the month in which you took it
• let the CSA know immediately if there are any problems with taking payments from a non-resident parent’s earnings
• make regular payments – if you don’t send payments to the CSA and don’t tell them why, they can take you to court
• tell the CSA in writing within 10 days of an employee leaving your business
• tell the CSA in writing within 10 days if they ask you to set up a deductions from earnings order (DEO) for someone who does not work for you

For more information on DEOs, see the page in this guide on deductions from earnings orders.

Providing information to the CSA

The CSA may ask you to help collect information it needs about your employee. A prompt reply from you allows child maintenance to be calculated more quickly. Delays in sending this information can cause hardship for the children the money is intended for and can build up a debt for the non-resident parent.

You may be asked for the following information about your employee:

• confirmation of identity
• address or other contact details
• wages or salary details
• bank account details

It is an offence to fail to provide information when it is required. It is also an offence to:

• make a false statement or representation
• knowingly provide, or allow to be provided, false information

If a person is found guilty of these offences they will be subject, on conviction, to a fine of up to £1,000.

The role of CSA inspectors

The CSA sometimes sends inspectors to interview non-resident parents at work. If this happens, the inspector may ask to speak to any adult on your business premises and you should let them. It is a criminal offence for any person to:

• intentionally delay or obstruct an inspector exercising their powers
• without reasonable excuse, to refuse or neglect to answer any questions or supply any information or to produce any document when it is required

If a person is found guilty of these offences they will be subject, on conviction, to a fine of up to £1,000.

Giving the CSA other information it needs

As well as the information above that you are legally required to provide, you should also notify the CSA if an employee who is paying through a DEO has their hours changed.

This information helps the CSA keep track of people who pay child maintenance and helps make sure they pay the right amount. You can contact the Child Support Agency Employer Helpline on Tel 0845 713 6010.

If an employee – who has been paying child maintenance through a DEO – leaves your business, or if your business ceases trading, you must inform the CSA in writing within 10 days. You should send the information to the CSA centre that sent you the DEO.

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Deduction from earnings orders

The aim of the Child Support Agency (CSA) is to get regular child maintenance payments for the children they are meant for. This means that it needs to collect money that is owed by the non-resident parent – parents who don’t have day-to-day care of the child – and get it to the parent who provides most of the child’s care.

The CSA will send you a deduction from earnings order (DEO) if one of your employees is a non-resident parent who:

• chooses to pay child maintenance direct from their earnings
• does not pay the correct amount of child maintenance on time
• fails to pay at all

Sometimes an authorised debt collection agency will send out a DEO on the CSA’s behalf. You should treat this as you would a DEO from the CSA itself.

What is a DEO?

A DEO is a way of collecting child maintenance directly from a non-resident parent’s earnings or pension.

When the CSA sends you a DEO for one of your employees, you should give it to the person who organises the payment of wages or pensions in your organisation. You must take the amount of child maintenance stated on the DEO from your employee’s net earnings or their pension.

You should send the money you deduct to the CSA as soon as possible after the deduction has been made and never later than the 19th of the month following the month in which the deduction was taken.

The amount will include the regular child maintenance amount and any arrears that may be due.

Once you have sent the money you have deducted to the CSA and it has been cleared through the CSA’s bank, the CSA will pass it on to the parent or person who cares for the child. The earlier you make the payment the sooner it can be sent on. It is important that money is collected and sent quickly as a delay could cause hardship to the children who need it.

Changes after a DEO has been set up

If your employee’s circumstances change, eg if they leave your employment or if their salary changes, the CSA will send you and your employee a revised DEO. You and your employee will also be sent an annual letter to remind you how much must be paid and when.

If the CSA decides to end a DEO, they will write to you and your employee, telling you that the DEO has been cancelled and that you should stop taking deductions from the date of the letter. You must only stop taking deductions if the CSA tells you to do so in writing.

If your business ceases trading, or if an employee for whom you make DEO payments leaves your employment, you must tell the CSA in writing within 10 days. See the page in this guide on your legal obligations for deducting child maintenance.

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How deduction from earnings orders work

The Child Support Agency (CSA) has designed deduction from earnings orders (DEOs) to work in a similar way to attachment of earnings orders, which are used to collect outstanding debts and fines. As an employer you may already be familiar with these.

If the CSA sends you a DEO you must take the amount of child maintenance stated on the order directly from your employee’s net earnings or their pension and pay it at the intervals given in the order. You should send the money to the CSA as soon as possible after the deduction has been made and never later than the 19th of the month following the month in which the deduction was taken.

For more information on net earnings, see the page in this guide on what the CSA counts as earnings.

The DEO that you receive will contain all the information you need to make deductions, including:

• the normal deduction rate – this is the amount of child maintenance the CSA takes from a non-resident parent’s net earnings in each pay period
• the protected earnings rate or protected earnings proportion – this is the amount the non-resident parent needs to keep to pay for their own living costs
• the date the CSA expects you to start making deductions
• how often you should make payments

It’s then up to you to ensure that you take the right amount from your employee’s earnings each week or each month – in line with the order you were sent – and pay it to the CSA.

When you make deductions, you must make sure that:

• your employee has earned enough money in the pay period for you to take the normal deduction rate
• you leave your employee with the amount of their protected earnings rate or protected earnings proportion

If your employee does not earn enough in the pay period, there are rules on what you must do. For more information, see the page in this guide on protected earnings rate and protected earnings proportion.

Why you might get more than one DEO for an employee

Sometimes a non-resident parent has more than one case and is paying maintenance for children by different parents with care. If they have multiple cases calculated under the 2003 scheme’s rules there will only ever be one DEO, which will show the National Insurance number. You will make one payment to the CSA and it will split the payment between the relevant children once received.

For multiple cases under 1993 scheme’s rules you may receive more than one DEO, which will show the 10-digit reference number. You will need to make a payment for each order you hold for each employee. If your payroll is already set up with payment schedules these may need to be changed to ensure the correct deductions are made.

When to start making deductions from earnings

The CSA sometimes takes time between making a calculation and advising of a collection schedule. You should always wait until advised by the CSA about the amount to take from your employee’s wages. This will ensure you deduct the correct amount.

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How to tell which CSA scheme applies to your employee

The Child Support Agency (CSA) currently operates two different child maintenance schemes. You can tell which scheme applies to your employee by the reference number on the deduction from earnings order (DEO).

DEOs issued with a National Insurance number are for cases assessed under the 2003 child maintenance scheme.  

Cases assessed under the 1993 scheme will continue to quote other reference numbers on the orders, and some cases may also have an ‘NST’ reference code.

You may receive DEOs with either reference numbers or national insurance numbers.

What is a reference number?

A reference number is a unique identifier, which is individual to a client of the CSA. The correct reference number should be used when sending payments or any correspondence to the CSA. You should always quote the most recent number highlighted in the last letter sent to you by the CSA.

Why it is important to use the correct reference number

Using the correct reference number ensures that payments and correspondence can be processed as soon as they are sent to the CSA, which means that the child maintenance is paid to the parent with care as soon as possible. Quoting incorrect reference numbers delays this, as the CSA has to manually match the payments and clients together, potentially causing hardship for the children involved.

If you have a query about helping employees pay child maintenance, reporting changes or providing additional information, you can contact the Child Support Agency Employer Helpline on Tel 0845 713 6010.

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Protected earnings rate and protected earnings proportion

Protected earnings are the amount of earnings a non-resident parent can keep under a deduction from earnings order (DEO) to pay for their own living costs. There are two types of protected earnings:

• the protected earnings rate applies to cases assessed under the 1993 scheme
• the protected earnings proportion applies to cases assessed under the 2003 scheme

As long as your employee earns enough money in the pay period for you to take the normal deduction rate and leave them with the amount of their protected earnings, you must take the amount shown on the deduction from earnings order, and pay this to the Child Support Agency (CSA).

What happens if you cannot take a full deduction

If your employee has not earned enough for you to take a full deduction at the normal rate you must:

• keep a record of the shortfall – this is the difference between the net earnings and the protected earnings rate or proportion
• carry forward the shortfall to the next period
• make sure that you send the deduction – if there is one – to the CSA

You should then deduct more in the next pay period.

Where the shortfall is carried forward for several weeks before being repaid, you will need to keep a record of any ongoing shortfall.

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What the CSA counts as earnings

For the purposes of making child maintenance deductions from a non-resident parent’s pay, the Child Support Agency (CSA) counts earnings as ‘net earnings’. This is what is left after the deduction of:

• income tax
• class 1 national insurance contributions
• regular contributions paid into a company pension scheme

What counts as earnings for deduction from earnings orders

When the CSA calculates earnings for deduction from earnings orders (DEOs), it counts the following as 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 (not Statutory Maternity Pay)
• contractual paternity pay (not Statutory Paternity Pay)
• contractual adoption pay (not Statutory Adoption Pay)
• contractual redundancy pay (not Statutory Redundancy Pay)

A deduction from earnings can only be made from these types of earnings.

Statutory pay is money that employees are entitled to by law. Contractual pay is pay that employers agree with their employees over and above statutory pay.

What doesn’t count as earnings for DEOs

If the only earnings your employee receives fall into the following categories, they cannot pay child maintenance by DEO:

• 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

For example, if your employee is only receiving statutory maternity, paternity or adoption pay, they cannot pay child maintenance by a DEO.

However, once they return to work – or if they are receiving any contractual maternity, paternity or adoption pay – they may choose to, or be required to, pay by DEO.

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Making payments to the CSA

You must pay the Child Support Agency (CSA) the amount of child maintenance you take from your employee’s wages. This must be done as soon as possible but no later than the 19th day of the month after the month in which you have taken it.

For example, if you take the money on 30 September, you must send it to the CSA before 19 October; if you take the money on 1 October, you must send it before 19 November.

Once you have made the first deduction you should establish a regular pattern of payment.

Read more about making payments to the CSA on the GOV website [opens in a new window].

How to pay money to the CSA 

The easiest and quickest way for you to pay money to the CSA is by sending an individual Bank Automated Clearing System (BACS) payment for each separate employee from whom you make a deduction from earnings.

An individual BACS payment involves less paperwork than a multiple BACS payment because you don’t need to fill in and post a DEO payment schedule.

You can also pay by other methods:

• multiple BACS – one combined payment for more than one employee – these must be accompanied by completed DEO payment schedules, which need to be posted to the CSA each time
• internet banking
• telephone banking

If you pay the wrong amount

If you find a mistake in the amount you have paid, you should contact the Child Support Agency Employer Helpline on Tel 0845 713 6010 as soon as possible.

You should not use a deduction from earnings payment schedule to recover previous overpayments or make up underpayments. If you do, the CSA may not be able to pay the parent with care.

If the payment it receives differs from the total shown on the payment schedule, the CSA will contact you to arrange the correct payment or to correct the schedule.

Making deductions for administrative costs

You may take up to £1 towards administrative costs for each deduction, on top of the amount of the DEO. You can take it as well as the deduction from earnings even if it reduces the employee’s income below the protected earnings proportion.

You must tell your employee how much you have taken from their earnings, including any amount for administrative costs, and record the amount in writing. You must tell them this – and record it – by the payday after the one when you made the deduction.

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If you pay your employee holiday pay in advance

If you pay your employee holiday pay in advance, you will need to multiply the normal deduction rate and the protected earnings rate or proportion in line with the net earnings.

For example, if you double the net earnings because you are paying them for two weeks instead of one, you will also need to double the normal deduction rate and the protected earnings rate or proportion.

You have to:

• work out the employee’s net deductible earnings
• multiply the normal deduction rate and the protected earnings rate or proportion by the number of pay periods they are being paid for
• take the relevant amount
• send this deduction to the Child Support Agency (CSA)

See the pages in this guide on examples of child maintenance deductions under the 1993 and 2003 schemes and protected earnings rate and protected earnings proportion.

If you have a query about helping employees pay child maintenance, reporting changes or providing additional information, you can contact the Child Support Agency Employer Helpline on Tel 0845 713 6010.

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If your employee has other court orders against them

Courts can issue you with attachment of earnings orders (AEOs), which mean that you must take money directly from an employee’s earnings. AEOs work in a similar way to deduction from earnings orders (DEOs) issued by the Child Support Agency (CSA).

If you are sent a DEO by the CSA and an AEO by a court for the same employee, there are rules that govern which money you should take first.

Download an employer’s guide to attachment orders [opens in a new window].

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Examples of child maintenance deductions under the 1993 and 2003 schemes

Example 1 – 1993 scheme: Full deduction can be taken

1993 scheme – (identified by ten digit reference number)

If the:

• employee’s net earnings are £160 per week
• the normal deduction rate is £30 per week
• this leaves £130 per week
• and the protected earnings rate is £100 per week

The full deduction of £30 can be made and sent to the Child Support Agency (CSA). The employer can deduct up to £1 for administration charges and the employee keeps the rest.

The actual amounts will depend on the person’s individual circumstances.

What happens if they sometimes don’t earn enough to pay the full amount of child maintenance owed?

The example below shows what happens when there are not enough net earnings to pay the full amount of child maintenance owed.

Again the amounts involved will depend on individual circumstances.

First week

If the:

• employee’s net earnings are £120 per week
• the normal deduction rate is £30 per week
• this leaves £90 per week
• and the protected earnings rate is £100 per week

Here, you would only be able to take £20 as you can not go under the protected earnings rate of £100. You would carry forward the £10 owed to the next pay period.

It is your responsibility to carry forward any shortfall to the employee’s next payment.

This is how it would work:

Second week

If the:

• employee’s net earnings this week are £130 per week
• the normal deduction is £30 + £10 from the previous week = £40
• this leaves £90
• the protected earnings rate is £100

You cannot go below the protected earnings rate so you would deduct £30 and send it to the CSA and carry forward the £10 owed to the next pay period.

There may be several weeks where arrears are carried forward before being paid off.

What should I do if the employee sometimes earns less than their protected earnings rate?

If their net earnings are less than their protected earnings rate, the difference between them should be added to the protected earnings rate for the next pay period. This will ensure that over time the employee receives average earnings of at least their protected earnings rate.

You will not be able to deduct anything from their wages and you should not deduct £1 for administration costs.

Example 1 – 2003 scheme: Full deduction can be taken

2003 scheme – National Insurance number used as reference

Your employee’s net earnings are £160 a week. The deduction rate is £32 a week, and the protected earnings proportion is £96 (60% of net earnings).

Net earnings £160

Less the protected earnings proportion £96

Leaves £64

Send the CSA £32

You may take and keep up to £1 for administrative charges. This amount is in addition to the deduction from earnings order.

The protected earnings proportion of their earnings is 60 per cent. This amount is based on information about your employee’s earnings which we used to calculate how much child maintenance they owe.

Example 2 – 1993 scheme: Full deduction cannot be taken

1993 scheme – (identified by ten digit reference number)

First week

If the:

• employee’s net earnings are £120 per week
• the normal deduction is £30 per week
• this would leave £90
• the protected earnings rate is £100 per week

You would only deduct £20 and carry forward the £10 owed to the next pay period.

Second week

If the:

• employee’s net earnings are £80 per week
• the normal deduction is £30 + £10 from the first week = £40
• this would leave £40
• the protected earnings rate is £100 per week

You would not make any deduction as the amount left is below their protected earnings rate. You would carry forward the £40 owed to the next week.

Also, because the employee’s net earnings this week were £20 below their protected earnings rate, you would add this £20 to their protected earnings rate to the next week.

Third week

If the:

• employee’s net earnings are £130
• the normal deduction is £30 per week + £40 carried over from the second week = £70
• this would leave £60
• the protected earnings rate is £100 + £20 carried over from the second week = £120

You would only be able to deduct £10 from your employee (because of the higher protected earnings rate). This should be sent to the CSA and the £60 owed carried forward to the next week.

Fourth week

If the:

• employee’s net earnings are £150 per week
• the normal deduction is £30 per week + £60 carried over from the third week = £90
• this would leave £60
• the protected earnings rate is £100

You would be able to deduct £50 and carry forward £40 owed to the next pay period. As their net earnings are above the protected earnings rate there are no arrears of protected earnings to carry forward.

The examples show that the amount of child maintenance owed by the employee and the level of their protected earnings can be adjusted if their earnings fluctuate.

If your employee’s net earnings regularly go below their protected earnings rate their child maintenance assessment may need to be changed. They should contact the CSA to tell it about this change in their circumstances.

Example 2 – 2003 scheme: Full deduction cannot be taken

2003 scheme – National Insurance number used as reference

First Week

The employee’s net earnings are temporarily reduced to £120 a week. The deduction rate is £32 a week, and the protected earnings proportion is £96.

Net earnings £120

Less the protected earnings proportion £96

Leaves £24

Send the CSA £24

You may keep up to £1 for administrative charges. This amount is in addition to the deduction from earnings order even though it reduces the liable person’s income below the protected earnings proportion. The shortfall of £8 is carried forward to next pay period.

In any period when there are not enough net earnings for the full deduction to be taken, you should carry forward the shortfall. You should add to the deduction to be taken for the next pay period.

However, there may be cases where the shortfall is carried forward for several weeks before being repaid. You will need to keep a record of any ongoing shortfall.

Second Week

The employee’s net earnings are £160 this week. The protected earnings proportion is £96 and the normal deduction is £32.

Net earnings £160

Less the protected earnings proportion £96

Leaves £64

Send the CSA £40

(£32 + £8 shortfall)

You may keep up to £1 towards your administrative costs. This amount is in addition to the deduction from earnings order.

Example 3 – 2003 scheme: No deduction can be taken

2003 scheme – National Insurance number used as reference

First week

The employee’s net earnings are temporarily reduced to £90 a week. The deduction rate is £32 a week, and the protected earnings proportion is £96.

Net earnings £90

Less the protected earnings proportion £96

Leaves £0

Send the CSA £0

You should not take anything towards administrative costs because you cannot take a deduction.

Shortfall of £32 is carried forward to next pay period.

Second week

Net earnings £170

Less the protected earnings proportion £96

Leaves £74

Send the CSA £64

(£32 + £32 shortfall)

You may take and keep up to £1 towards your administrative costs. This amount is in addition to the deduction from earnings order.

As the examples show, different amounts can be taken where earnings fluctuate. If your employee’s earnings regularly fall below their protected earnings proportion, they should contact the CSA as their child maintenance calculation may need to be changed.

Example 4 – 1993 scheme: Full deduction can be taken, earnings include 2 weeks holiday pay paid in advance

1993 scheme – identified by ten digit reference number

The employee has net earnings of £160 a week. The deduction rate is £32 a week and the protected earnings rate is £96.

Net earnings: £160 a week x 3 = £480 (one week’s pay + two weeks’ holiday pay)

Less the protected earnings rate: £96 x 3 = £288

This leaves: £192

You should send the CSA: £96 (£32 x 3)

Example 4 – 2003 scheme: Full deduction can be taken, earnings include 2 weeks holiday pay paid in advance

2003 scheme – National Insurance number used as reference

The employee has net earnings of £160 a week. The deduction rate is £32 a week and the protected earnings proportion is £96.

Net earnings £160 x 3 = £480

(1 week’s pay + 2 weeks holiday pay)

Less the protected earnings proportion £ 96 x 3 = £288

Leaves £192

Send the CSA £96 (32 x 3)

You may keep up to £1 towards your administrative charges.

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