Make benefit debt deductions from an employee's pay

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1. Overview

As an employer you may be asked to deduct benefit overpayments an employee owes the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) from their pay. This is called a Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA).

DWP will write to you and ask you to operate the DEA scheme if any of your employees are affected. DEA only applies to a small proportion of people owing money to DWP.

You may also be asked to make deductions for Housing Benefit overpayments an employee owes their local authority. Contact local authorities, not DWP, about these deductions.

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).

2. How it works

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will write to you if you need to make Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) deductions for an employee.

How deductions work

You’ll need to follow these steps if you get a letter from DWP saying you need to make Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) deductions for an employee:

  1. Tell your employee that money will be deducted from their pay.

  2. Work out how much to deduct from your employee’s pay.

  3. Check if your employee has other debt orders to pay and if they take priority over DEA.

  4. Take the money from your employee’s pay.

  5. Pay the money to DWP no later than the 19th day of the month following deduction in your payroll.

  6. Continue to make employee deductions and payments to DWP until the debt has been repaid or DWP tells you to stop.

Read the employer’s guide for more information on DEA deductions and payments.

Record keeping

You must keep a record of deductions and tell DWP when an employee leaves your company.

You could be fined up to £1,000 if you do not make DEA deductions.

Help with DWP payments

Call the employer helpline if you have questions about how to run DEA or pay DWP.

Employer helpline 0800 916 0614
Monday to Friday, 8am to 7.30pm
Find out about call charges

This helpline is for DWP deductions only. Contact your employee’s local authority for Housing Benefit deductions.

3. Calculating DEA

To calculate the deductions from your employee’s pay you’ll have to:

  • work out the employee’s earnings after tax, class 1 National Insurance and workplace pension contributions
  • deduct the percentage shown in the table from the employee’s earnings
  • check if the employee has other debt orders and if they take priority over Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) - see the employer’s guide

If the total of all deductions is more than 40% of the employee’s net earnings, DEA must be adjusted - see the employer’s guide.

If payments are made every 2 or 4 weeks, calculate weekly pay and deduct the percentage in the table.

Standard DEA rates

Deductions from earnings Employee’s weekly pay Employee’s monthly pay
Nothing to deduct £100 or less £430 or less
3% £100.01 to £160 £430.01 to £690
5% £160.01 to £220 £690.01 to £950
7% £220.01 to £270 £950.01 to £1,160
11% £270.01 to £375 £1,160.01 to £1,615
15% £375.01 to £520 £1,615.01 to £2,240
20% More than £520 More than £2,240

Higher DEA rates

In some circumstances you may be asked to deduct DEA at a higher rate. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will tell you which rate to use when it contacts you to set up DEA deductions.

Deductions from earnings Employee’s weekly pay Employee’s monthly pay
5% £100 or less £430 or less
6% £100.01 to £160 £430.01 to £690
10% £160.01 to £220 £690.01 to £950
14% £220.01 to £270 £950.01 to £1,160
22% £270.01 to £375 £1,160.01 to £1,615
30% £375.01 to £520 £1,615.01 to £2,240
40% More than £520 More than £2,240

Call the employer helpline if you’re unsure which rate to pay.

Employer helpline 0800 916 0614
Monday to Friday, 8am to 7.30pm
Find out about call charges

»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýappre is more detail about calculating DEA in the employer’s guide.

4. What counts as earnings

When calculating Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) payments, you should include as earnings:

  • wages and salary
  • fees
  • bonuses
  • commission
  • overtime pay
  • occupational pensions if paid with wages or salary
  • compensation payments
  • Statutory Sick Pay
  • most other payments on top of wages
  • pay in lieu of notice

Do not count:

  • Statutory Maternity Pay
  • Statutory Adoption Pay
  • Ordinary or Additional Paternity Pay
  • guaranteed minimum pension
  • any money the employee gets from the government, such as benefits, pensions or credits (includes Northern Ireland or anywhere outside the UK)
  • statutory redundancy pay
  • expenses
  • pay or allowances as a member of HM Forces (does not include allowances for special members of the reserve force)