This information sheet is intended to help employers understand their role when co-operating with the Maintenance Enforcement Program (MEP) to collect support payments through a support deduction notice (SDN). A SDN is a legal document issued by MEP that requires payment of funds. SDNs used to be known as "wage garnishees" or "notices of continuing attachment." When a SDN is sent to a debtor's employer, the employer is required to pay MEP a portion of the debtor's salary or wages.
Why a SDN is issued by MEP
To ensure that court-ordered support is received in full and on a timely basis, MEP encourages debtors to make their payments through a SDN. MEP may have issued a SDN to you because your employee volunteered to make payments by payroll deduction. Or, a SDN may be served because the debtor has not paid maintenance as ordered by the court. To protect our debtors' privacy, neither MEP staff nor the SDN documents will say whether the SDN was issued at the debtor's request or as a collection tool to collect overdue payments.
MEP will often make phone inquiries to confirm the debtor's place of employment. However, MEP may also serve the SDN without any preliminary phone inquiries.
Notifying the employer of the SDN
MEP formally notifies the debtor's employer when issuing a SDN. Official notification from MEP consists of a package of documents stating MEP's legal authority in sending the SDN and the employer's obligations. The documents include:
- a letter stating a Support Deduction Notice has been issued
- the documents that make up the SDN
- a Calculation of Payment worksheet.
Regulations permit these documents to be sent by fax to the debtor's place of employment. As the SDN does not need to be filed in court or served on the debtor, employers may wish to provide the debtor with a copy of the SDN for their records.
Timelines for employers to respond to a SDN and penalties for non-compliance
Employers have 15 days to answer a SDN by confirming pay arrangements that apply to the particular employee. Employers are required to advise MEP at this time if the debtor is no longer in their employment. Upon receipt of the SDN, employers have a legal obligation to make the appropriate payment to MEP from the debtor's next paycheque and all subsequent paycheques until the SDN is removed.
If an employer does not respond to the SDN within 15 days, MEP may issue a notice of non-compliance. The employer has 10 days to respond to this notice or MEP can proceed with an application to the courts for an order for payment, making the employer liable for their employee's entire maintenance arrears.
Calculating the amount to be sent to MEP under a SDN
The SDN documents will often tell the employer the exact amount to send MEP each month or each pay cycle. Examples of this "set dollar amount SDN" are requests for $325 per month or $250 every two weeks. In other cases, the employer may be asked to send MEP a percentage of the debtor's gross wages. Unless the debtor agrees to pay a higher amount through a SDN, the maximum amount that MEP can attach from a debtor's wages is 40% of the debtor's gross wages. Payments can be sent in to MEP to correspond to the employee's normal payroll cycle.
Gross wages means all wages or salary before any mandatory or voluntary deductions are made. This includes holiday pay, bonuses, incentive-based pay and overtime. Employers must also send MEP 40% of all severance or termination packages unless MEP serves a further SDN asking for 100% of these monies.
If the SDN asks for a percentage of gross wages, MEP will provide a Calculation of Payment worksheet for payroll purposes. This worksheet must be completed and returned to MEP with each payment. If a set dollar amount is asked for, the Calculation of Payment worksheet will only need to be completed and returned with the first payment remitted to MEP.
MEP ’s Calculation of Payment worksheet is available in both "print only" and "fill and print" form. Copies of the worksheet can also be requested by fax through the MEP Info Line: phone 780-422-5555 and follow the voice prompts. The catalogue number for this worksheet is 99009.
Forwarding SDN funds to MEP
Employers can help their employees avoid late penalties and collection actions by ensuring they send payments to MEP promptly after deducting them from their employee’s pay.
The best ways for employers to send payments to MEP is through:
- Telephone or Internet banking
- Direct Deposit or Electronic Funds Transfer
- Electronic Data Interchange
More details about these preferred payment options are available in MEP’s information sheet, Preferred Payment Options for Employers, catalogue # 99032.
SDN payments can also be sent to MEP by cheque, personal delivery or mail although these means are slower to process and can cause delays. Payments made by the employer must identify the debtor’s name and account number.
Changes in employment status
Employers must notify MEP if employees with a SDN leave their employment for any reason. Employers should be aware that legislation specifically protects employees from discrimination or dismissal because a SDN has been issued. Employers must also notify MEP if an employee with a SDN who has left their employment later returns to their employ during the 12-year period a SDN is in force.
Changes to an employee's SDN
Debtors are encouraged to contact MEP to make payment arrangements if they feel the SDN causes them financial difficulty. Staff can often work with debtors to negotiate a lower SDN amount. MEP will provide written notification to an employer if there are changes to the terms of the SDN.
Dismissal of employees
Section 40(1) of the Maintenance Enforcement Act prohibits an employer from dismissing, suspending, laying off or discriminating against an employee, if the reason for doing so is in any way related to the service of a SDN on the employer.
Contacting MEP
MEP welcomes inquiries from employers. To enable our employer partners to easily contact us, a separate employer call queue is available on MEP 's phone system at 780-422-5555* (Edmonton). After reaching our MEP Info Line follow the voice prompts to get to the queue.
MEP can also be contacted at:
Maintenance Enforcement Program
7th Floor, J.E. Brownlee Building
10365 - 97 Street
Edmonton, AB T5J 3W7
Fax: 780-401-7575*
E-mail: albertamep@gov.ab.ca
Website: www.albertamep.gov.ab.ca
*Dial 310-0000 for toll-free access anywhere in Alberta.