Earnings arrestments
How a wage arrestment works, what can be taken from your pay, and your rights.
- Does A Wage Arrestment Show On Your Payslip? It comes off the pay for that period, but the law fixes the calculation rather than the wording. What to ask payroll and how to check the amount taken is right. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Does Overtime Increase Your Wage Arrestment Deduction? Yes. The sum is worked out afresh from each period's net earnings, so an overtime month takes more, and only that month. Bonuses work the same way. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Are Zero-Hours Workers Affected By A Wage Arrestment? The deduction is worked out afresh from your actual net earnings every pay period, so it rises and falls with your hours. Nothing is averaged, smoothed or carried over. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Do You Know If You Have A Wage Arrestment? Your payslip is the fastest place to check. An arrestment comes off net earnings after tax and National Insurance, from a table you never agreed to. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Does A Wage Arrestment Work In Scotland? How a Scottish wage arrestment works, from the schedule landing with payroll to the deduction on your payslip, and the routes that bring it to an end. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Is A Wage Arrestment Calculated On Monthly Pay? Table B of Schedule 2 sets the monthly deduction. Follow the calculation step by step, including bonus months, overtime and part-month pay. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Is A Wage Arrestment Calculated On Weekly Pay? Table A of Schedule 2 sets the weekly deduction. Nothing comes off the first £172.61, see the bands, a worked example and the cost over a year. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Long Does A Wage Arrestment Last? A wage arrestment runs until the debt, expenses and surcharge are cleared. Work out your own end date and see what shortens or ends it early. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Much Can They Take From Your Wages In Scotland? Deductions are fixed by statutory tables, not by the creditor. See the monthly and weekly figures from 6 April 2025 and what is left to live on. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- How Much Does A Wage Arrestment Cost You In Total? The debt, a 10% addition where a summary warrant was granted, sheriff officer expenses and £1.00 to your employer per deduction. Only three of the four reduce as you pay. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Is A Wage Arrestment Taken Before Or After Tax? After tax. Section 73(1) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 applies the tables to net earnings, your pay after four named deductions and nothing else. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Is A Wage Arrestment The Same As An Attachment Of Earnings In England? No. Scotland uses an earnings arrestment under the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987, with the amount read off Schedule 2. Attachment of earnings is an English order. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- Is Your Wage Arrestment Deduction Recalculated If Your Hours Drop? Yes, and there is nothing to apply for. Section 47(1) makes your employer work the deduction out from your net earnings on every pay day, so less pay means less taken. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Are An Employer’s Legal Duties For A Wage Arrestment? Section 47(1) of the Debtors (Scotland) Act 1987 makes an employer deduct from net earnings every pay day and pay each sum over to the creditor. The duties in full. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Are The Protected Earnings Limits For A Wage Arrestment? The protected figures are £750.00 a month, £172.61 a week and £24.66 a day of net pay. See what counts as net earnings and when a deduction is nil. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Are The Seven Types Of Wage Arrestment In Scotland? Scotland has seven forms of wage deduction, but only three are diligence. Compare them side by side and work out which one is coming off your pay. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Counts As Net Earnings For A Wage Arrestment? Four deductions and no others: income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions and a priority child maintenance order. Section 73(1) closes the list. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Debts Can Lead To A Wage Arrestment In Scotland? Council tax, credit agreements, rent arrears and benefit overpayments can all reach your wages in Scotland. See which route each debt takes and how fast. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Documents Should You Receive Before A Wage Arrestment? A bill, reminder and final notice on the council tax route, a decree and charge for payment on the other, and a debt advice and information package on both. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Happens If Your Employer Deducts The Wrong Amount? Take it back to payroll in writing with the arithmetic. Where too much has gone over, section 57(5) makes the excess recoverable from the creditor, not your employer. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Happens To A Wage Arrestment If You Are Paid Fortnightly? There is no fortnightly table. Section 49 has your employer halve the fortnight's net pay, read the weekly table, then double the answer. A worked example. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Happens To A Wage Arrestment If You Earn Below The Threshold? Nothing comes off for that period, and the arrestment does not end. It stays in force and deducts again in the first period your net pay rises above the line. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Happens To A Wage Arrestment If You Go On Unpaid Leave? Nothing comes off in a pay period where you are not paid, because there are no earnings for the tables to work on. The arrestment itself stays in force. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read
- What Happens To A Wage Arrestment If You Leave Your Job? It ends. Section 47(2) of the 1987 Act keeps an arrestment in force only while that employment lasts. The debt stays, and a fresh schedule can follow you. Updated 30 Aug 2026 Read