Attachment Orders

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Use the Attachment Orders command on the Action menu associated with the Payroll Processing form to maintain details that enable the application to calculate deductions for one or more Attachment of Earnings Orders for the employee. You will need to set up a deduction profile for the appropriate type of attachment of earnings order before you create a deduction.

An attachment order is issued to an employer by an authority telling them to make a deduction from an employee via the payroll. This is a legal requirement. On each payday you must make the deduction provided the employee's earnings for the pay period are sufficient. The use of attachment orders is favoured by the Government for the recovery of debts, fines and liabilities. There are many different types of attachment orders, issued by different courts, agencies and authorities.

Different Types of Attachment Orders

These attachment orders are catered for in Opera:

Type	Description
Priority AEO	For the collection of family maintenance and fines. Raised by the High Court, Magistrates Court and the County Court in England and Wales under the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971.
Non-Priority AEO	For the collection of civil debts. Raised by the High Court, Magistrates Court and the County Court in England and Wales under the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971.
Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO)	For the recovery of child maintenance from absent parents' earnings under the Child Support (Collection and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. If a DEO cannot be paid, the calculation updates the employee's record on the Attachment Orders form with a reason for the underpayment. See the Deductions from Earnings Orders (DEOs) Help topic for details of the different types of deduction from earnings orders.
Community Charge AEO	For the collection of unpaid Community charge. Raised by the Local charging Authorities in England and Wales, subsequent to obtaining a Liability Order - 1988.
Council Tax AEO	For the collection of unpaid Council Tax.. Raised by the Local charging Authorities in England and Wales, subsequent to obtaining a Liability Order - 1992.
Earnings Arrestment	For the collection of civil debts or fines. Raised by Scottish courts and by HM Revenue & Customs to collect some duties. If an arrestment order already exists on an employee's record, a new arrestment order can only be added if the existing arrestment order was completed in an earlier pay period.
Current Maintenance Arrestment	For the collection of family maintenance. Raised by Scottish courts.
Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) The deduction amount for DEAs is normally calculated using different tables of bandwidths and percentages for weekly and monthly paid employees supplied by the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP). In some circumstances the DWP will allow an alternative fixed amount to be deducted. This type of deduction does not need to be agreed in civil court. It also does not replace any existing attachment orders. The DWP will send a notice (including a payment schedule) to employers when the DEA needs to be implemented for an employee. Tip: For more information see www.gov.uk/government/publications/direct-earnings-attachments-an-employers-guide.
Table	Indicates that the DEA must be calculated using the tables of bandwidths and percentages for weekly and monthly paid employees supplied by the DWP.
Fixed	Indicates that the DEA must be calculated using the alternative fixed amount method.

Using the Attachment Orders Form

Using the Attachment Orders form, you specify the parameters that control the calculation of the deduction including the order type, rates, protected earnings value, total to be paid and so on. Only those payments for which the Attachable option is selected on the payment profile will be eligible for inclusion in the earnings from which the attachment order is deducted. You do not need to complete all fields for all attachment order types. Only complete those fields applicable to the order type to be processed. You can also define on the deduction profiles any statutory or other deductions that must be taken from the employee's earnings before any attachment order deduction.

All attachment orders are detailed on the Payroll - Periodical Reports - Attachment Orders report.

Attachment Order Entries

Type	Description
Order Type	An option that determines the type of Attachment of Earnings Order. You can select one of the following from a list: Priority AEO Non-Priority AEO Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO) Community Charge AEO (CCAEO) Council Tax AEO (CTAEO) Earnings Arrestment (EA) (see below for how to record conjoined earnings arrestments) Current Maintenance Arrestment (CMA) Magistrates Courts Fines AEO (MCF) Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) - Table Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) - Fixed. If, as an employer you receive a Conjoined Arrestment Order (CAO) this is processed by separating out any Earnings Arrestments (EAs) and Current Maintenance Arrestment (CMAs) and entering them as single individual EAs and CMAs. In particular, CMAs must have their individual daily rates added together to give a combined daily rate.
Priority	A number that identifies the priority of the attachment. Each AO must have a unique priority number, so if more than one attachment order record is created, this determines the order in which they are processed. This is enabled if you select 'Deduction from Earnings Order (DEO)'in the Order Type box.
DEO Type	There are three type of DEO schemes, issued separately in 1993, 2003 and 2012. All schemes are valid but if an employee has a new DEO applied it will be under the 2012 scheme. 1993 DEO For this type of DEO, any shortfall in what is earned in a pay period and any shortfall in the protected earnings rate is carried forward to the next pay period. 2003 DEO For this type of DEO, shortfalls are not carried forward to the next pay period. 2012 DEO The 2012 DEO is calculated differently to the 1993 and 2003 DEOs. For this DEO a non-resident parent's protected earnings will be 60% of their attachable earnings. Protected earnings is the proportion of the employee's net pay that cannot be included in the calculation of the child maintenance deduction. This means that, under this scheme, the employee's take-home pay will be at least 60% of their actual net earnings. The actual protected earnings will therefore change if the non-resident parent's attachable earnings changes from one pay period to the next. If the order cannot be paid in full, the reason for the underpayment will be updated on the Payroll - Processing - Attachment Orders form attached to the employee's record, and included on the DEO Payment Schedule Report and the file that is designed to be uploaded to the self-service web site hosted by the Child Maintenance Service. The shortfall will not be added to the following period's deduction but it will be assessed by the Child Maintenance Service and rescheduled for payment if necessary. See below for a list of reasons for underpayment.
Normal Deduction Rate	The normal deduction rate for this attachment. This should be based on employees pay frequency so you need to ensure the value entered is for a weekly/2 weekly/4 weekly/monthly deduction from pay. This box applies to Priority AEOs, Non-Priority AEO, Deduction from Earnings Orders (DEOs) and Current Maintenance Arrestment (CMAs).
Higher Rate DEA
Deduct Admin Fee	An option that determines whether the employer will deduct an administration fee for the Attachment of Earnings Order. This is only available if the Deduct Admin Fee option is selected on the Options Page 3 tab of the Payroll - Utilities - Set Options form. The amount of the administration fee is also specified on the Options Page 3 tab of the Set Options form.
Protected Earnings	The value or percentage of an employee's earnings that is protected from the attachment order deduction. This determines the level of earnings from which no further attachment deductions can be made. This can be a discrete value or a percentage. If the value you enter is a percentage, you must select the Protected Earnings is a % option if the box is enabled. This box applies to Priority AEOs, Non-Priority AEOs and and Deduction from Earnings Orders (DEOs). You cannot change the percentage for 2012 DEOs . It is automatically set to the required percentage.
Protected Earnings is a %	The value or percentage of an employee's earnings that is protected from the attachment order. This determines the level of earnings from which no further attachment deductions can be made. This can be a discrete value or a percentage. If the protected earnings value entered in the Protected Earnings box you enter is a percentage, you must select the Protected Earnings is a % option. This box is automatically selected or cleared for the different schemes of Deduction from Earnings Orders (DEOs). This box is disabled if the Order Type box is set to applies to Priority AEOs, Non-Priority AEO and 'Deduction from Earnings Orders (DEOs)'. The box is either selected or deselected automatically depending on the type of DEO.
Total to be Paid	The total amount of the Attachment of Earnings Order to be paid by the employee.
Completed	An option that indicates when the Attachment of Earnings Order is complete. If selected, the application will check whether the deductions to-date equate with the total to be paid and display a message if required. Important: A completed order is ignored by both the global and individual calculations in Payroll.
To-Date	These boxes indicate the values relating to the Attachment of Earnings Order carried forward and deducted to date.
DEO Reduced Deduction Reason	This box captures the reason for underpayment of a Deduction from Earnings Order. If a full payment cannot be deducted from an employee's pay, the Payroll - Calculation command will update the box with a reason for the underpayment. It is possible to change the reason for underpayment by selecting the adjacent Override box. Select the Override box to prevent the Calculation command from updating the Reason box. When the Payroll - Utilities - Update command is run at the end of the pay period, it will reset the reason box to 'None' and clear the Override box in readiness for the next tax period.

Conjoined arrestment orders

A conjoined arrestment order is an order granted by the court to enforce payment of two or more of the same type of debts, at the same time. For conjoined arrestment orders, you are required to make a deduction and pass it to the court to distribute the funds.

In the event that a conjoined arrestment order is issued (in this situation the employee already has an arrestment order), you would need to do the following:

1. On the Payroll - Processing - Attachment Orders form, mark the old order as complete.

2. On the Payroll - Processing - Pay & Deductions form, modify the deduction value for the employee to include the combined value of both the old and the new orders as a temporary deduction for the period (if the deduction required is different).

3. Complete the pay period as normal.

4. On the Payroll - Processing - Attachment Orders form, in the new pay period:

i. On the record for the old arrestment order, adjust the value in the Total Amount Deducted box to make sure it does not include the first deduction for the conjoined order. Also, adjust the Total Admin Fee Deducted box if any fees relate to the conjoined order.

ii. Set up the new conjoined arrestment order (using the order type of 'Earnings Arrestment (EA)') for the employee with the relevant deduction value and other details.

iii. On the record for the new conjoined arrestment order, add the value of the first deduction processed in the previous pay period to the Total Amount Deducted box. Also, add the administration fees to the Total Admin Fee Deducted box.

Permitted Reasons for Underpayment of DEOs

If a full DEO payment cannot be made the employee record is updated by the Payroll - Calculation command with the reason for the underpayment. However, you can prevent this by selecting the Override box on the attachment order record.

If the reason is updated automatically you should check that it is correct before submitting the DEO Payment Schedule Report to the Child Maintenance Service.

Reason	Description
Left employment	The employee has left this period.
SSP	The employee is being paid Statutory Sick Pay in this period and the deduction cannot be made in full.
SMP	The employee is being paid Statutory Maternity Pay in this period and the deduction cannot be made in full.
SPP	The employee is being paid Statutory Paternity Pay in this period and the deduction cannot be made in full.
Protected Earnings	The employee has protected earnings in this period and the deduction cannot be made in full.
Change of Income	The employee had a change of income in this period. Important: You need to set this manually; it cannot be set automatically by the Calculation command.
Deceased	The employee died in this period.
SAP	The employee is being paid Statutory Adoption Pay in this period and the deduction cannot be made in full.
ASPP	The employee is being paid Additional Statutory Paternity Pay in this period and the deduction cannot be made in full. This reason must also be used for employees receiving Shared Parental Pay.
Multiple Reasons	There are two or more reasons for the underpayment.
Redundancy	The employee was made redundant in this period.