Changes to the regulations surrounding the ‘Amendment Regulations’ comes into force this April From 8th April 2015 the DWP (Department for Work & Pensions) have confirmed that there will be a change in regulations (The Social Security (Overpayment and Recovery) Amendment Regulations 2015). With this in place, the DWP will be able to issue a Direct Earnings Attachment up to a maximum of 40% increasing from the current maximum of just 20%. This will be implemented in cases where a individual has been prosecuted for an offence which gave rise to a benefit overpayment. Though the DWP are keen to implement this change as soon as possible over the coming weeks CIPP and BCS, two large organisations that represent the payroll software industry will be working closely with DWP, as it has been noted that without a payroll software update it would become very difficult for employers to automatically action these changes, with the doubt that some may not be ready to undertake these changes until as late as April 2016. When the changes are rolled out in April this year there will be no accountability on employers to automatically increase the rates when DWP issue a “stop notice” the 20% Direct Earnings Attachment that is currently in place will be updated with a higher 40% rate, where appropriate. Further information will be available for employers, after additions discussions take place, with a DWP official and CIPP attending the British Computer Society in late March 2015 to discuss the changes with software providers. You can find out more about Direct Earnings Attachments by following the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/direct-earnings-attachments-an-employers-guide