Deduction of Wages

gbatey

Hi All,

We seem to be having the same issues as a lot of people on here with the CSA so I will keep this brief!

We are trying to get the payments sorted out and we would prefer if the payments could be taken from his wages directly but have been told by the CSA that they cannot do this and it has to be by Direct Debit.

He did this when he was with a previous employer a few years ago so has anything changed in the meantime?

GB

PreludeForTimeFeelers

gbatey wrote: »

Hi All,

We seem to be having the same issues as a lot of people on here with the CSA so I will keep this brief!

We are trying to get the payments sorted out and we would prefer if the payments could be taken from his wages directly but have been told by the CSA that they cannot do this and it has to be by Direct Debit.

He did this when he was with a previous employer a few years ago so has anything changed in the meantime?

GB

No - there's no reason why they can't impose a voluntary DEO. If you have no joy ask to speak to a team leader.

CSAworkerx

Cant see a problem if both you and the nrp both want a Vdeo, but your nrp must say to us this is how he wants it taken, as the pwc you have no rights on how its taken, So ask him to phone up and tell us he wants a Vdeo, and the caseworker at that point should cancel the DD and set this up.

gbatey

Thanks v much Prelude and CSAWorker. My partner (the nrp) is on a 'zero hours' contract with the employer he is with at the moment so it is very difficult for the CSA to work out how much he needs to pay each month as his hours can vary greatly week to week (this has been ongoing since May this year and still no joy on how much he has to pay!). He was told that he couldn't do it this way (the deduction of earnings) by a CSA worker but surely this would be better in that they don't have to work out a set amount and then they take a percentage of what his wages are each fortnight that he gets paid (if I'm right in thinking that way?)

Also, I don't know if either of you can help, but could I PM either one of you to ask your advice on a 'complaint' we have with the CSA? Would rather not post it on here!

Crellow4

Without an assessment in place a method of collection cannot be chosen. A DEO does not collect a percentage of income, it collects a fixed amount - determined by the liability and any arrears.

Marisco

Crellow4 wrote: »

Without an assessment in place a method of collection cannot be chosen. A DEO does not collect a percentage of income, it collects a fixed amount - determined by the liability and any arrears.

But doesn't a certain % of income have to be left? Or am I thinking of CSA1? Surely if the NRP is on zero hours and a DEO is in place, but he brings home less than the assesment some weeks, they couldn't take the whole lot off him and leave him in arrears could they? If so, I'd say steer clear of DEO's!! :eek: Wouldn't it be better to try and come to an arrangement with the PWC, after all you cannot pay what you don't have!

Crellow4

That's exactly what would happen. A DEO will be issued with an amount to deduct and an amount which the NRP has to be left with. If the employer is unable to deduct the full amount, the balance would roll forward to next week and so on, therefore creating arrears. The Agency cannot assess on a week by week basis so I can only presume they are waiting for sufficient wage slips to form an average. In this instance the most sensible way forward would be to pay the PWC direct.

medsec_222

What happened in my son's case, is that he was unwell for three days and unable to work. He does not get sick pay. The CSA took the maximum they could for that week even though he was three days pay down, and then took the remainder the following week. It was difficult for him to ensure his bills were paid and there was enough food for the children during those two weeks. He was never been off work since, preferring to go in unfit for duty rather than face the stress of trying to pay his bills for the subsequent weeks.

Crellow4

This is one of the big misunderstandings - the CSA doesn't 'take' the money from wages, it is deducted entirely by the employer and sent to them. The employer is given a figure to collect and a protected income figure, which is the amount they must leave the NRP with. If there is a shortfall one week, it will be collected in subsequent weeks - in one go if there is enough money available.

gbatey

Thanks for all the info-very confused now about what the best thing to do! He is not on speaking terms at all with the PWC as she is unreasonable all of the time; he left due to domestic abuse from her originally. We tried to go down that route with her but she was adamant she wanted to go through the CSA. Means we don't have to speak her which is good but its a nightmare trying to get things in place...

CSAworkerx

gbatey wrote: »

Thanks for all the info-very confused now about what the best thing to do! He is not on speaking terms at all with the PWC as she is unreasonable all of the time; he left due to domestic abuse from her originally. We tried to go down that route with her but she was adamant she wanted to go through the CSA. Means we don't have to speak her which is good but its a nightmare trying to get things in place...

Ah, 0 hours contract, This changes things a bit, the problem weve had with these is, we may tell the nrp to pay 100/month based on what we assess him on, then in a months time, due to the nature of his contract he hasnt earned enough for us to take this, so we take nothing, and the arrears then build, Or, we take it and leave the nrp without what the goverment class as protected earnings, We are ruled by strict guidelines on how much we take, and how much we leave.

As you can imagine, it would be very fustrating for both the nrp and pwc if a payment wasnt taken, the nrp would get more arrears, and the pwc would recive nothing, but this is the nature of a 0 hours contract, Ill get this clarified at work but id doubt a VDEO is possible on a 0 hours contract, ive never done one myself.

I cant speak for prelude but your more than welcome to pm me anything you like, and im sure prelude wouldnt mind either.