Guidance

Child maintenance information for payroll professionals

How payroll software developers should standardise payroll report formats for child maintenance purposes.

• From: Department for Work and Pensions
• Published: 13 May 2013
• Last updated: 4 April 2017 — See all updates

Documents

High level business requirements for child maintenance payment changes

HTML

High level business requirements for child maintenance payment changes

PDF, 62.7 KB, 14 pages

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Payroll software report format

MS Excel Spreadsheet, 31.5 KB

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DEO schedule schema (XML)

XML, 4.82 KB

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Example report format

CSV, 434 Bytes

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Details

The Child Maintenance Service, part of the Department for Work and Pensions, was introduced in December 2012. As a result, the Department for Work and Pensions has asked that payroll software developers standardise the report formats for their software.

With the new report format you will see a number of key differences from the current employer deduction from earnings order (DEO) schedule reporting. The changes are:

• an ‘Employer Reference Number’ which links the employer back to an employer record
• an ‘Employee Child Maintenance Reference Number’ which links the individual DEO back to the non-resident parents’ record
• an optional ‘Reason’ code, from a pre-defined range, when payments made vary from the normal deduction rate.

We’ve published the following documents to support standardisation:

• payroll software report format (XLS)
• DEO schedule schema (XML)
• example report format (CSV)
• high level business requirements for child maintenance payment changes (PDF)

Standardisation of this report format will enable employers to upload these reports to the Child Maintenance Service via a new employer self-service website (due to be introduced in summer 2013). This will use both XML and CSV formats, automating the processing of a significant percentage of these submissions. This automation will benefit both employers and the Child Maintenance Service because a reduced level of outbound contact will be required to clarify the information received.

Get help and advice about DEOs from an employer account manager in our dedicated Employer Support Team between 8am and 7.30pm Monday to Friday, or between 9am and 4.30pm Saturday on 0800 232 1961.

Published 13 May 2013
Last updated 4 April 2017 + show all updates

1. 4 April 2017

   Updated opening hours for Employer Support Team phonelines.

2. 13 May 2013

   First published.