The government wants to investigate the number of emolument attachment orders (EAOs) taken out against public servants. It’s not the first time that government has launched an investigation into EAOs. It authorised the Minister of Finance and Minister of Trade and Industry back in December 2013, “to take measures to assist over-indebted households and also prevent them from becoming over-indebted in future,” revealed National Treasury and the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) in a press statement.
EAOs are an instruction by the courts for an employer to make direct deductions from an employee’s salary in order to pay a debt.
Government has appointed service provider Q LINK Holdings to fully investigate the “extent and abuse of EAOs in the public service (national and provincial spheres of government) and to implement an ongoing process for the management of EAOs to ensure that in future no illegally-issued EAOs are enforced against public servants,” said National Treasury and the DPSA.
One of the measures that government has taken to review these EAOs, “is to encourage employers to investigate the legitimacy of EAOs for credit and to reduce and remove erroneous ones.”
This investigation fits hand-in-hand with the Public Service Employee Debt Relief Programme, which the DPSAplans on implementing. The aim is to assist public servants in getting out of their high levels of over-indebtedness.
The DPSAhighlighted that public servants who have EAOs against their salaries “are encouraged to contact the call centre established by Q LINK if they have questions or require additional information.”
The contact number for Q LINK is 0800 00 7032.
For more information on EAOs, click here.