Judicial line: 6 September 2018

Q Where an employer fails to make substantial deductions from a judgment debtor’s pay under an attachment of earnings order, does the judgment creditor have any direct redress against the employer if the prospects of recovery of the missed payments from the judgment debtor are non-existent or poor?

A Our opinion is that there is no direct remedy available against the employer except by way of punishment under s 23(2)(a) of the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971. This creates an offence for failing to comply with the order and the strict position is that there is a separate commission of the offence for each ‘missed’ payment. The employer, often through its payroll officer, is liable to be dealt with by way of committal proceedings and can be fined and ordered to pay any sums deducted from the judgment debtor’s earnings for which the employer has not accounted.

In a fix

Q Fixed costs on entry of judgment seem to apply