As an employer, the court can issue an attachment of earnings order (AEO). It's an official form instructing you to deduct an outstanding debt directly from your employee's wages. Courts can issue attachments for various reasons, including unpaid fines and child support.  TIP: Use our article to set up an attachment of earnings order.
Types of AEOsThere are several types of AEOs that are all available in your software to process. ▼ Find out more about each one | Attachment type | Description |
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| 1971 priority | Payment of unpaid TV licence or road traffic fines. | | Child support (CS) | Issued by the Child Support Agency (CSA) for child maintenance payments. | | Child support 2012 | From April 2012, issued by the Child Support Agency (CSA) for child maintenance payments. | | Deduction of earnings order (DEO) | Issued by the Scottish CSA for child maintenance payments. | | 1971 non-priority | For civil debts, such as unpaid credit cards or money owed for work done.
 NOTE: If you need to process a Central attachment of earnings payment system (CAPS) AEO, select this attachment. | | Pre 92 community charge (Pre 92 CCAEO) | Payment of unpaid poll tax prior to 1992. | | Post 92 community charge (Post 92 CCAEO) | Payment of unpaid council tax after 1992. | | Council tax (CTAEO) | Payment of unpaid council tax. | | Earnings arrest (EA) | A Scottish order for civil debts and fines such as utility bills or unpaid fines. This AEO uses the legislation in effect on the date you set it up. | | Current maintenance arrest (CMA) | A Scottish order for maintenance to a spouse or child. | | Conjoined arrestment order (CAO) | A Scottish order for the combination of more than one EA or CMA. | | Income support deduction (ISD) | Issued by the Department of Work and Pensions to recover Income Support paid while an employee was on trade dispute. | | Fines enforcement | Issued to ensure employee's pay their court fines. | | Earnings arrest (2006) (EA 2006) | A Scottish order covering bankruptcy and diligence. | | Direct earnings attachment (DEA) | Issued to collect overpaid benefits in England, Scotland and Wales. Use the article Direct Earnings Attachment for support. |
What earnings can I deduct an AEO from?The earnings you can deduct from an attachment are known as attachable earnings. The table below shows what payments you can and can't deduct an AEO from: | Payment type | AEOs, EAs and DEOs | CTAEOs |
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| Wages and salary (including bonuses and overtime) | Yes | Yes | | Holiday pay and other pay advances | Yes | Yes | | Pension | Yes | No | | Statutory sick pay | Yes | Yes | | Statutory redundancy pay | No | No | | Statutory maternity pay | No | No | | Statutory paternity pay | No | No | | Statutory adoption pay | No | No |
What information appears on an AEO?If you receive an AEO for an employee, set this up in your payroll. ▼ Find out more about the information in an AEO
AEO tablesClick an option below to find out more about attachments. NOTE: When the Carried forward column lists the attachment with a Yes, the attachment will carry forward any unpaid amount to the next period. ▼ England and WalesIf you receive an AEO and you're unsure what to set this up as, for further information contact the issuing court or creditor. Protected earningsTo ensure that an employee has sufficient income after you deduct the attachment, the court can set a protected earnings amount. This will appear on the order. The employee's net pay can't fall below the amount of protected earnings you enter when setting up the attachment. If you can't deduct the full amount due to the protected earnings, carry the amount forward into the next period. This will depend on the type of attachment that you use. Administration feeYou can deduct up to £1.00 from your employee's earnings per pay period, towards your administrative costs. You can take this charge even if it reduces the employee's income below the 60% protected earnings amount. If you decide to apply an administration charge of £1.00, this deduction can bring the employees pay below the National Minimum Wage. Check gov.uk/national-minimum-wage, or contact the ACAS helpline for advice. It’s a criminal offence for employers not to pay someone the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage. Priority orderEach attachment has a priority assigned to it. If the employee has just one attachment, it's automatically assigned priority order one. If the employee has more than one attachment, you must deduct them in the correct order according to the HMCS. The table below shows the priority of the attachments in the order you should deduct them. Attachment orders relating to maintenance, fines, child support, Community Charge and Council Tax always take priority over non-priority attachments for civil debts, student loans or CMAs. The rules relating to the priority order of attachments are complex. These can differ depending on whether the attachment was issued in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The table below shows the settings for the different types of AEOs you can receive: ▼ ScotlandProtected earningsTo ensure that your employee has sufficient income, the court can set a protected earnings amount, which appears on the order. The employee's net pay can't fall below the amount of protected earnings you enter when setting up the attachment. If you can't deduct the full amount due to the protected earnings, carry forward the amount into the next period. This will depend on the type of attachment that you use. Administration feeTo cover administration costs, you can deduct a fee of £1.00 per pay period whenever you make a deduction for that order. This deducts from the employee's net pay and can reduce the employee's earnings below the protected earnings figure, if applicable. The table below shows the settings for the different types of AEOs you can receive: | Order type | To set up in the software | Amount or percentage | Protected earnings | Carried forward | Admin fee | Other information |
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| Child support | CSA | Amount | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Child Support (2012) | Yes - fixed at 60% | | Deduction from earnings order | Deduction of Earnings Order | Amount | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Earnings arrest | Earnings Arrest | Amount or percentage | No | No | £1.00 | You can operate this order with a current maintenance arrestment, but the employee can only have one earnings arrest active at any time. Return any further orders. The court will issue the employee with a conjoined arrestment order instead. | | Current maintenance arrestment | Current Maintenance Arrest | Amount | No | No | £1.00 | You can operate this order with an earnings arrestment, but the employee can only have one current maintenance arrestment active at any time. Return any further orders. The court will issue the employee with a conjoined arrestment order instead. | | Conjoined arrestment order | Conjoined Arrestment Order | Amount | No | No | £1.00 | The court will issue this if the employee has more than one earnings arrestment or a current maintenance arrestment. | | Income Support Deduction Notice | Income Support Deduction Notice | Amount | Yes | No | £1.00 |
| | Earnings arrest for bankruptcy and diligence | Earnings Arrest (2006) | Amount or percentage | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Centralised attachments of earnings payment (CAPS) | 1971 Non-Priority | Amount | Yes | No | £1.00 |
| | Direct earnings attachments | Direct Earnings Attachments | Percentage | Yes - fixed at 60% | No | £1.00 | Read more > |
Protected earningsTo ensure your employee has sufficient income, the court can set a protected earnings amount, which appears on the order. The employee's net pay can't fall below the amount of protected earnings you enter when setting up the attachment. If you can't deduct the full amount due to the protected earnings, carry forward the amount into the next period. This will depend on the type of attachment that you use. Administration feeYou can deduct a fee of £1.00 per pay period to cover administration costs whenever you make a deduction for that order. This deducts from the employee's net pay and can reduce the employee's earnings below the protected earnings figure, if applicable. The table below shows the settings for the different types of AEOs you can receive: | Order type | To set up in the software | Amount or percentage | Protected earnings | Carried forward | Admin fee | Other information |
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| Attachment of earnings order (fines or maintenance) | 1971 Priority | Amount | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Fines Enforcement (if instructed to deduct using tables) | Amount | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Child support | CSA | Amount | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Child Support (2012) | Amount | Yes - fixed at 60% | Yes | £1.00 | | Deduction from earnings order | Deduction of Earnings Order | Amount | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Attachment of earnings order (civil debt or maintenance) | 1971 Non-Priority | Amount | Yes | No | £1.00 | Only one 1971 non-priority can be active at any one time. Return any further orders. | | Community charge attachment of earnings order (pre 1992) | Pre 92 Community Charge | Amount or percentage | No | No | £1.00 | Contact your local authority for further advice. | | Community charge attachment of earnings order (post 1992) | Post 92 Community Charge | Percentage | No | No | £1.00 | Contact your local authority for further advice. | | Council tax attachment of earnings order | Council Tax | Percentage | No | No | £1.00 | An employee can only have two CTAEOs from the same billing authority active at any one time. Return any further CTAEOs. | | Earnings arrest | Earnings Arrest | Amount or percentage | No | No | £1.00 | You can operate this type of order with a current maintenance arrestment, but the employee can only have one earnings arrest active at any time. Return any further orders. The court issues the employee with a conjoined arrestment order instead. | | Current maintenance arrestment | Current Maintenance Arrest | Amount | No | No | £1.00 | You can operate this type of order with an earnings arrestment, but the employee can only have one current maintenance arrestment active at any time. Return any further orders. The court issues the employee this attachment with a conjoined arrestment order instead. | | Conjoined arrestment order | Conjoined Arrestment Order | Amount | No | No | £1.00 | This court issues this if the employee has more than one earnings arrestment or a current maintenance arrestment. | | Income Support Deduction Notice | Income Support Deduction Notice | Amount | Yes | No | £1.00 |
| | Earnings arrest for bankruptcy and diligence | Earnings Arrest (2006) | Amount or percentage | Yes | Yes | £1.00 |
| | Centralised attachments of earnings payment (CAPS) | 1971 Non-Priority | Amount | Yes | No | £1.00 |
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