Guidance

Direct Earnings Attachment: an employers' guide

Information for employers making Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) deductions.

• From: Department for Work and Pensions
• Published: 4 April 2013
• Last updated: 8 May 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 8 May 2026

     Published updated versions of the English versions of the Direct Earnings Attachment employer declaration form.

  2. 10 April 2026

     Published a revised version of the Direct Earnings Attachment: Employer Declaration form, and published a Welsh‑language version of the form for the first time.

  3. 15 May 2024

     Telephone numbers updated in 'Direct Earnings Attachment: a more detailed guide' and 'Direct Earnings Attachment: An Employers Guide'. The PDF versions of these guides have been removed.

  4. 4 April 2022

     Changed the employer helpline opening times to Monday to Friday 8am to 7.30pm (from Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm).

  5. 16 September 2021

     Changed opening hours of the debt management employer line to 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

  6. 6 September 2021

     DWP Debt Management contact centre opening hours changed from 9am to 5pm, to 9am to 6pm.

  7. 19 April 2021

     Updated the DWP Debt Management telephone service opening hours to 9am to 5pm.

  8. 8 February 2021

     Updated 'Direct earnings attachment: employer declaration form' to latest version.

  9. 3 December 2020

     Updated the Employer Helpline opening times to Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.

  10. 28 August 2020

      Removed call out explaining benefit debt repayments had been temporarily stopped because of coronavirus.

  11. 7 July 2020

      Employers should continue to not make deductions from an employees pay for until told to so again by DWP.

  12. 3 April 2020

      Added explanation that benefit debt repayments have been temporarily stopped because of coronavirus (COVID-19). Employers should not make any DEA deductions to employees’ pay in April, May or June 2020.

  13. 19 June 2019

      Updated 'Direct Earnings Attachment: a guide for employers' and 'Direct Earnings Attachment: a more detailed guide' also re-added 'Direct Earnings Attachment: employer declaration form'.

  14. 7 June 2019

      Updated both Direct Earnings Attachment: a guide for employers, and Direct Earnings Attachment: more detailed guide. Removed Direct Earnings Attachment: employer declaration form.

  15. 16 April 2018

      Updated the payments address in the Direct Earnings Attachment guides and form.

  16. 28 March 2018

      Revised the information about telling an employee about the amount a deduction. See employer guide (page 6) and detailed guide (page 16).

  17. 10 January 2018

      Replaced Direct Earnings Attachment: a detailed guide with revised version. Added all percentages in 'Deduction rate to apply' column in table on pages 23 and 24.

  18. 3 January 2018

      Published updated versions of both guides with new contact numbers and with an email address field added to the payments schedule.

  19. 21 September 2017

      Clarified the guidance about the importance of providing National Insurance numbers with payments. However, the provision of National Insurance numbers is not a "legal requirement" so we've removed that statement from the employer guide page 5 and detailed guide page 4 (4.1). Please continue to provide National Insurance numbers as explained elsewhere in the guidance so we can allocate payments to the correct accounts.

  20. 14 June 2017

      Published revised guides advising that Debt Management may telephone employers with a request to stop a Direct Earnings Attachment deduction.

  21. 4 May 2017

      Replaced both guides amending references to ‘benefit overpayments’ and to reflect that DEAs can be used to recover more than one type of DWP debt.

  22. 3 March 2017

      Replaced both guides with added information about sending DEA schedules by email and administration costs for compliance with National Minimum Wage.

  23. 6 February 2017

      Replaced 'Direct Earnings Attachments: a guide for employers'. Revised version has new opening times starting from 6 February 2017.

  24. 31 October 2016

      Replaced both guides with revised versions. DWP Debt Management bank details updated in both guides, micro business exemption information removed from 'Direct Earnings Attachment: a guide for employers'.

  25. 7 October 2016

      Replaced both guides with revised versions. DWP Debt Management bank details clarified.

  26. 5 October 2016

      Replaced both guides with revised versions. Changes to DWP Debt Management bank details made throughout both guides.

  27. 30 August 2016

      Replaced 'Direct Earnings Attachments: a guide for employers' with a revised version incorporating new guidance on how an employer can email payment schedules to DWP Debt Management. Also published 'Direct Earnings Attachments: employer declaration form'.

  28. 1 April 2016

      Added revised - a guide for employers - page 9 - paragraph 3 - reference to 2.5.17a and c, changed to 7.12 a and b of the more detailed guide.

  29. 31 March 2016

      Replaced both guides with revised versions. Numerous changes made throughout the guides.

  30. 13 August 2015

      Replaced both guides with revised versions. Numerous changes made throughout the guides.

  31. 29 July 2014

      Published updates to both Direct Earnings Attachment guides.

  32. 9 April 2014

      Replaced both guides with revised versions. Numerous changes made throughout the guides.

  33. 31 January 2014

      Published revised version of the employers' guides

  34. 11 November 2013

      Employers guide updated for: the ending of the Direct Earnings Attachment.pilot; announcement of automated payments; clarification of guidance on exemptions, protected earnings and DWP responsibilities; removal of calculation examples to the more detailed guide for software developers; updated questions and answers. More detail guidance for software developers published.

  35. 22 April 2013

      Document updated April 2013

  36. 4 April 2013

      First published.

Documents

Direct Earnings Attachment: a guide for employers

HTML

Direct Earnings Attachment: a more detailed guide

HTML

Direct Earnings Attachment: employer declaration form (Word version)

MS Word Document, 145 KB

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Direct Earnings Attachment: employer declaration form (Open Document version)

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Details

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

The employers’ guide explains what you need to do if you’re asked to implement a Direct Earnings Attachment. It tells you:

• how to operate and make payments for a Direct Earnings Attachment
• what your legal responsibilities are

We have also published more detailed guidance for employers and payroll software developers that includes worked examples on how a DWP Direct Earnings Attachment should be operated.

These guides are intended to help you understand the main points about Direct Earnings Attachments. They are not a full description or statement of the law.

More about Direct Earnings Attachments on GOV.UK

Find out more in our guide Make debt deductions from an employee’s pay.