Calculation of Attachment Orders

The global calculation deducts Attachment Order amounts for employees who have active records set up on the Payroll - Processing -Attachment Orders form. A warning is displayed on the calculation's report if an attachment order cannot be paid in full.

Types of Attachment Orders

These Attachment Orders can be deducted from each employee who has an order defined on the Attachment Orders form linked to their record.

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.

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.