This guide is for employers and payroll staff who have received a DEO for an employee. It covers what the order asks of you, how to work out the deduction each payday, when the money has to reach the CMS, what goes on the payslip and what to do when the employee leaves. It follows GOV.UK's employer guidance for the Child Maintenance Service; the order itself, and the payment schedule the CMS posts you, always take precedence over a general guide.
What a deduction from earnings order is
A DEO is the Child Maintenance Service's way of collecting child maintenance straight from a paying parent's earnings or pension. The paying parent is the parent who doesn't have main day-to-day care of the child. The CMS can issue one when the parent chooses to pay this way, or when they haven't paid what they owe, have paid the wrong amount or have paid late.
Once you have a DEO you are legally required to make regular deductions, send each payment to the CMS on time, give information the CMS asks for, and tell the CMS straight away about problems taking payments.
DEO or attachment of earnings order: the difference
Both orders take money from pay, but they come from different places and follow different rules.
| Deduction from earnings order (DEO) | Attachment of earnings order (AEO) | |
|---|---|---|
| Issued by | Child Maintenance Service | A court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) |
| Collects | Child maintenance | Debts, fines and court-ordered maintenance |
| Amount set by | The CMS, on the order and payment schedule | The court: a normal deduction rate |
| Employee keeps at least | 60% of net earnings | The protected earnings rate in the order |
| Pay to | The CMS, by the 19th of the next month | The court or the Centralised Attachment of Earnings Payments system (CAPS) |
| Employee leaves | Tell the CMS within 10 days | Tell the court or CAPS within 10 days |
If an employee has both, the order of deduction matters. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland a DEO comes first unless you have a priority AEO for the employee, such as one for maintenance or a fine. In Scotland a DEO takes priority over other deductions, including an earnings arrestment.
How the CMS sets the amount
You don't calculate child maintenance. The CMS works it out from the paying parent's gross yearly income, which it gets from HMRC, then adjusts it for things like pension contributions and other children the parent supports, converts it to a weekly figure and applies a rate band. Parents with gross weekly income of £7 to £100 pay a flat £7 a week; the basic rate formula covers £200 to £3,000 a week. Where the child stays overnight with the paying parent on 52 or more nights a year, the amount is reduced.
When the CMS collects the money, its Collect and Pay service adds a 20% collection fee to the paying parent's payment. The amount on the DEO and the monthly payment schedule is the figure you deduct: if it changes, the CMS sends a new schedule.
Working out the deduction each payday
- Take the employee's earnings for the pay period, leaving out payments that don't count (below).
- Work out net earnings: earnings less Income Tax, Class 1 National Insurance and pension or superannuation contributions.
- Work out protected earnings: 60% of net earnings. The employee must keep at least this much.
- Deduct the amount on the DEO, as long as net earnings minus the deduction stays at or above protected earnings.
- If you choose, deduct £1 towards your admin costs. The £1 may take pay below protected earnings, but not below the National Minimum Wage.
- Send the deduction to the CMS and give the employee written notice of it with their payslip.
What counts as earnings: wages, fees, bonuses, commission and overtime; pensions and compensation payments; Statutory Sick Pay; and contractual sick, maternity, paternity, adoption and redundancy pay. What doesn't count: Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Redundancy Pay, social security pensions, allowances and benefits, disability-related pensions or allowances, a guaranteed minimum pension, and amounts paid by a Northern Ireland public department or a public department outside the UK. If one of these is the employee's only income in a period, deduct nothing and update the payment schedule.
If you pay holiday pay in advance, multiply net earnings, protected earnings and the weekly deduction by the number of weeks the payment covers.
Worked example: a full month and a short month
An employee is paid monthly on tax code 1257L, National Insurance category A, with a 5% workplace pension under a net pay arrangement. The DEO is £260 a month and the employer takes the £1 fee. Tax, NI and pension are worked out on 2026/27 rates; the order amount is an example.
| Normal month | Short month | |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | £2,200.00 | £600.00 |
| Pension (5% of pay above £520) | £84.00 | £4.00 |
| Income Tax (PAYE) | £213.40 | £0.00 |
| Employee National Insurance | £92.16 | £0.00 |
| Net earnings for the DEO | £1,810.44 | £596.00 |
| Protected earnings (60%) | £1,086.26 | £357.60 |
| Most that can be deducted | £724.18 | £238.40 |
| DEO deducted | £260.00 | £238.40 |
| Admin fee | £1.00 | £1.00 (if pay stays above minimum wage) |
| Shortfall carried forward | £0.00 | £21.60 |
In the normal month the full £260 is taken and the employee keeps £1,549.44. In the short month only £238.40 fits above protected earnings. You send £238.40, record the £21.60 shortfall, and send the CMS an updated payment schedule saying how much you deducted and why. The next payday you deduct £281.60, the usual £260 plus the shortfall, if protected earnings allow it.
Paying the CMS
Send each payment as soon as you make the deduction. By law it must reach the CMS no later than the 19th day of the month after the month you deducted it: a deduction from October pay must arrive by 19 November.
- Pay each employee's deduction separately, even if several of your staff have DEOs.
- You can pay through the CMS online service (after registering with the Employer Payment Team), by phone, by bank transfer using the employee's National Insurance number as the reference, or by cheque.
- The CMS posts you a monthly payment schedule listing every employee with a DEO and the amount due. If you can't send the full amount, return an updated schedule online, by email or by post.
What the payslip should show
A DEO deduction changes from period to period, so it belongs on the payslip as its own line, after tax, National Insurance and pension. GOV.UK requires you to tell the employee in writing about each deduction when you give them their payslip, and to say whether you took the £1 admin fee. Most employers do both on the payslip itself.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Basic pay | £2,200.00 |
| PAYE tax | £213.40 |
| National Insurance | £92.16 |
| Pension (net pay arrangement) | £84.00 |
| Child maintenance DEO | £260.00 |
| DEO admin fee | £1.00 |
| Net pay | £1,549.44 |
Label the line plainly, for example "Child maintenance (DEO)". The payslip is the employee's record of what was taken each period.
When the employee leaves, and other changes
Contact the Child Maintenance Service within 10 days if the employee leaves, if your business stops trading, if you are sent a DEO for someone who doesn't work for you, or if there's a problem setting up the deduction. Make any deduction due from the final pay and send it in the usual way.
Employer penalties
The CMS can fine you £500 for each missed payment and up to £1,000 for not giving information it has asked for. If you don't send payments and don't explain why, you can be taken to court. If you can't deduct the full amount, sending what you can with an updated payment schedule is what the rules ask for; going quiet is what leads to fines.
Questions
What is a deduction from earnings order?
An order from the Child Maintenance Service telling an employer to deduct child maintenance from a paying parent's net earnings and pay it to the CMS by the 19th of the following month.
How much can be taken under a DEO?
The amount on the order, as long as the employee keeps at least 60% of net earnings (pay after Income Tax, Class 1 National Insurance and pension). Anything that can't be taken is carried to the next payday.
Can an employer refuse a DEO?
No. Once you receive a DEO you must make the deductions and pay the CMS. If the person doesn't work for you or the deduction can't be set up, contact the CMS within 10 days.
Is the £1 admin fee compulsory?
No, it's optional. If you take it, tell the employee in writing with their payslip, and never let it take their pay below the National Minimum Wage.
Does a DEO apply to Statutory Maternity Pay?
No. Statutory Maternity, Paternity, Adoption and Redundancy Pay don't count as earnings for a DEO. Statutory Sick Pay and contractual maternity pay do.
Sources
- GOV.UK — Make child maintenance deductions from an employee's pay
- GOV.UK — Child maintenance deductions: how to make deductions
- GOV.UK — Child maintenance deductions: what counts as earnings
- GOV.UK — Child maintenance deductions: make DEO payments
- GOV.UK — Child maintenance deductions: updating your payment schedule
- GOV.UK — Child maintenance deductions: when you must contact the Child Maintenance Service
- GOV.UK — How child maintenance is worked out
- GOV.UK — Child Maintenance Service: making and receiving payments
- GOV.UK — Make debt deductions from an employee's pay (attachment of earnings orders)
Official sources checked 14 October 2026. This guide explains how pay documents work; it is not tax or legal advice.
