The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Calculation of earnings derived from employed earner’s employment and income other than earnings

94.—(1) Earnings derived from employment as an employed earner and income which does not consist of earnings shall be taken into account over a period determined in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (10) and at a weekly amount determined in accordance with regulation 97 (calculation of weekly amount of income).

(2) Subject to paragraphs (3) to (10), the period over which a payment is to be taken into account shall be—

(a) in a case where it is payable in respect of a period, a period equal to the length of that period;

(b) in any other case, a period equal to such number of weeks as is equal to the number obtained (and any fraction shall be treated as a corresponding fraction of a week) by dividing the net earnings, or in the case of income which does not consist of earnings, the amount of that income less any amount paid by way of tax on that income which is disregarded under paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings), by the amount of jobseeker’s allowance which would be payable had the payment not been made plus an amount equal to the total of the sums which would fall to be disregarded from that payment under Schedule 5 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of earnings) or, as the case may be, any paragraph of Schedule 6 other than paragraph 1 of that Schedule, as is appropriate in the claimant’s case,

and that period shall begin on and include the date on which the payment is treated as paid under regulation 96 (date on which income is treated as paid).

(3) Where earnings not of the same kind are derived from the same source and the periods in respect of which those earnings would, but for this paragraph, fall to be taken into account—

(a) overlap, wholly or partly, those earnings shall be taken into account over a period equal to the aggregate length of those periods;

(b) and that period shall begin with and include the earliest date on which any part of those earnings would otherwise be treated as paid under regulation 96.

(4) In a case to which paragraph (3) applies, earnings under regulation 98 (earnings of employed earners) shall be taken into account in the following order of priority—

(a) earnings normally derived from the employment;

(b) any compensation payment;

(c) any holiday pay.

(5) Where earnings to which regulation 98(1)(b) or (c) applies are paid in respect of part of a day, those earnings shall be taken into account over a period equal to a day.

(6) Subject to paragraph (7), the period over which a compensation payment is to be taken into account shall be the period beginning on and including the date on which the payment is treated as paid under regulation 96 and ending—

(a) subject to sub-paragraph (b), where the person who made the payment represents that it, or part of it, was paid in lieu of notice of termination of employment or on account of the early termination of a contract of employment for a term certain, on the expiry date;

(b) in a case where the person who made the payment represents that it, or part of it, was paid in lieu of consultation under Article 49 of the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1976(1) on the later of—

(i) the date on which the consultation period under that Article would have ended;

(ii) in a case where sub-paragraph (a) also applies, the expiry date, or

(iii) the standard date;

(c) in any other case, on the standard date.

(7) The maximum length of time over which a compensation payment may be taken into account under paragraph (6) is 52 weeks from and including the date on which the payment is treated as paid under regulation 96.

(8) In this regulation—

(a) “compensation payment” means any payment to which regulation 98(3) applies;

(b) “the expiry date” means in relation to the termination of a person’s employment—

(i) the date on which any period of notice applicable to the person was due to expire, or would have expired had it not been waived; and for this purpose “period of notice” means the period of notice of termination of employment to which a person is entitled by statute or by contract, whichever is the longer, or, if he is not entitled to such notice, the period of notice which is customary in the employment in question;

(ii) subject to paragraph (9), where the person who made the payment represents that the period in respect of which that payment is made is longer than the period of notice referred to in head (i), the date on which that longer period is due to expire, or

(iii) where the person had a contract of employment for a term certain, the date on which it was due to expire;

(c) “the standard date” means the earlier of—

(i) the expiry date, and

(ii) the last day of the period determined by dividing the amount of the compensation payment by the maximum weekly amount which, on the date on which the payment is treated as paid under regulation 96, is specified in paragraph 5(4) of Schedule 3 to the Contracts of Employment and Redundancy Payments Act (Northern Ireland) 1965(2), and treating the result (less any fraction of a whole number) as a number of weeks.

(9) For the purposes of paragraph (8), if it appears to the adjudication officer in a case to which sub-paragraph (b)(ii) of that paragraph applies that, having regard to the amount of the compensation payment and the level of remuneration normally received by the claimant when he was engaged in the employment in respect of which the compensation payment was made, it is unreasonable to take the payment into account until the date specified in that sub-paragraph, the expiry date shall be the date specified in paragraph (8)(b)(i).

(10) For the purposes of this regulation the claimant’s earnings and income which does not consist of earnings shall be calculated in accordance with Chapters III (employed earners) and V (other income) respectively.

(1)

S.I. 1976/1043 (N.I. 16); Article 49 was amended by regulation 3 of S.R. 1995 No. 417

(2)

1965 c. 19 (N.I.); paragraph 5 of Schedule 3 was substituted by Part II paragraph 39 of Schedule 5 to the Industrial Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 (S.I. 1976/1043 (N.I. 16)) and paragraph 5(4) was amended by the Schedule to S.R. 1995 No. 342