(1) Where an attachment of earnings order is in force, the Court shall, on the application of the person referred to in subsection (2), determine whether payments to the debtor of a particular class or description specified by the application are earnings for the purposes of the order; and the employer shall be entitled to give effect to any determination under this section.
(2) The persons referred to in subsection (1) are—
(a) the employer;
(b) the debtor;
(c) the person to whom payment under the maintenance order is required to be made, whether directly, into a specified bank account or through the Collecting Officer of the Court.
(3) Where an application under this section is made by the employer, he shall not incur any liability for non-compliance with the order as respects any payment of the class or description specified by the application which is made by him to the debtor while the application or any appeal in consequence thereof is pending; but this subsection shall not, unless the Court otherwise orders, apply as respects such payments if the employer subsequently withdraws the application or, as the case may be, abandons the appeal.