Taking money from source is a very serious matter and up until the introduction of the Child Support legislation, no employee would experience a Deduction of Earnings Order (DEO) without various financial checks being made and a court order being granted.

DEOs are a regular method of collection used by the Agency, and can be in place often without the knowledge or consent of the individual. However, both the employer AND the NRP should receive notification about the order. In theory, DEOs should only be requested by the Agency if the NRP has repeatedly failed to comply with the Agency’s request for information, or if arrears are evident and the NRP makes no attempt to pay them. DEOs  regularly contain incorrect information, or can be requesting sums of money that do not reflect a correct maintenance assessment. Thus many employees can experience severe financial difficulty and can often leave the employment altogether.

Employers often have little option but to comply with the Agency’s requests as prosecution can occur for non compliance. BE WARNED: a defective DEO can be dismissed by a magistrates court should the individual appeal against the order. However, if the order has already been sanctioned and monies deducted, the individual loses the right of appeal. It is therefore advisable to inform the employee that such an order is in place and allow him the opportunity to appeal if necessary. To do this, the NRP will need to contact the Debt Management Team of the Child Support Agency, and ask them to intervene with the order.

As the employer, you have a duty to inform your employee that a deduction will be taking place on his/her wage. To ignore this principle does not breach any Child Support regulations, but does fall under the employment protection laws. Therefore, any employer that does not give notification of a deduction may be liable to complaints from the employee to the employment tribunals, and may face possible fines.

The CSA will first contact the company by telephone under the guise of The Department of Works and Pensions. This is because Child Support is now dealt with by this Government department. Enquiries will then be made about the employee for whom the assessment is being made against.

Employers have to be very cautious at this time, as errors in giving information can lead to a breach of Acts that are designed to protect an individuals right to privacy.

If you believe the employee is appealing against the parentage of the child and you wish to protect yourself from possible action from the employee for supplying information about him or her, then you will need to inform all of your personnel staff about the situation and ensure that no information is given without the individuals prior consent.

The CSA will make various attempts to gain the information, either by telephone calls, or by request forms CSA 154 and CSA 155. After these approaches have been made, if the information is still not forthcoming an Inspector will be assigned and at this point you will be legally bound to supply the information requested.

Information that should be supplied when replying to a request should not exceed information to:

• Identify and trace a Non Resident Parent
  
• To make an assessment for child maintenance or
  
• Collect child support maintenance/arrears via a Deduction of Earnings Order.