An Employer's Guide to Direct Earnings Attachments (DEA) for the Collection of Housing Benefit Overpayments

Read the checklist to help answer your Direct Earnings Attachments (DEA) questions.

a. does the person named in the notice work for you?

• yes - go to b
• no - tell the Council within 10 days

b. are you a new or micro business? (see section 1.2 for guidance)

• yes - contact the Council on 01642 526820
• ​no - go to c

c. are there any orders for deductions already in place that will take priority over the DEA and prevent it being set up?

• yes - tell the Council within 10 days
• no - go to d

d. calculate your employees net earnings for DEA purposes (see section 5 for guidance)

e. do they earn enough to allow deductions to be made? (see section 6 for guidance)

• yes - go to f
• no - tell the Council within 10 days

f. decide how much of their net earnings will be deducted (see section 6 for guidance)

g. if you deduct that amount, will they be left with less than 60% of their wages - the protected amount? (see section 6.2a for guidance)

• yes - if possible, adjust your deductions level to leave them with 60% of their net earnings or within 10 days, tell the Council that no deductions can be made
• no - go to h

h. make sure the total amount deducted through this and previous deductions is not more than the total amount stated in the notice

i. make the necessary arrangements to your payroll for the deduction to be made

j. notify your employee of the amount to be deducted no later than the pay day on which the deduction is made

k. pay the amount deducted from your employee's earnings to the Council no later than the 19th day of the month following the month the deduction was made. Send the Council a completed DEA payment schedule for one or multiple employees when you send a payment by  BACS and multiple employees when you send a payment by cheque (please ensure the schedule is attached to the cheque)