The Social Security (Back to Work Bonus) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Requirements for a bonus

6.—(1) Regulation 7 of the Back to Work Bonus Regulations shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (7).

(2) In paragraph (1) after “has served” there shall be inserted “, or is treated as having served,”.

(3) In paragraph (2)(d)(i) and (ii) after the word “attained” in both places where it occurs there shall be inserted “the day before”.

(4) In paragraph (4)—

(a) for sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(a) within 12 weeks of ceasing to be entitled to a qualifying benefit or within 12 weeks of a connecting period ceasing, the applicant commences training;”;

(b) for sub-paragraph (c) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(c) within 14 days of the day he last attended training—

(i) he takes up or returns to or increases the number of hours in which he is engaged in employment, or where his hours of work fluctuate, is engaged on average, for not less than 16 hours per week, or

(ii) he takes up employment, or increases his earnings from his existing employment, as a result of which weekly earnings equal or exceed the amount of the training allowance payable to him in the last week of training;”, and

(c) for sub-paragraph (f) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(f) in a case where the qualifying benefit to which a person was entitled—

(i) was income support, he satisfied the requirements specified in paragraph (4)(c) before he attained the age of 60, or

(ii) was a jobseeker’s allowance, he satisfied the requirements specified in paragraph (4)(c) before he attained pensionable age.”.

(5) In paragraph (5)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (a) after “a couple” there shall be inserted “, or of a polygamous marriage,” and after “separated” there shall be added “and the separation took place before the person attained the age of 60”;

(b) for sub-paragraphs (c) and (d) there shall be substituted the following sub-paragraph—

“(c) within 14 days of the separation—

(i) he takes up or returns to or increases the number of hours in which he is engaged in employment, or where his hours of work fluctuate, is engaged on average, for not less than 16 hours per week, or

(ii) he takes up employment or increases his earnings from his existing employment, as a result of which his weekly earnings, had he been entitled to a qualifying benefit on the day of separation, equalled or exceeded the amount that would have been the applicable amount or the age-related amount in his case;”, and

(c) in sub-paragraph (e) “and (d)” shall be omitted.

(6) For paragraph (7) there shall be substituted the following paragraph—

“(7) Subject to paragraph (8), a person—

(a) who—

(i) becomes entitled to, or whose partner becomes entitled to, a qualifying benefit within 12 weeks of the day in respect of which his last previous entitlement to a qualifying benefit ceased, and

(ii) has not made, and whose partner has not made, a claim for a bonus before the day in respect of which the most recent entitlement to a qualifying benefit first arose,

shall be treated as not satisfying the requirements of paragraph (2)(c) or (3)(d) for the period of 12 weeks following the day in respect of which the last previous entitlement to a qualifying benefit ceased;

(b) who—

(i) claims, or whose partner claims, a qualifying benefit before the end of the period of 12 weeks immediately following the day on which training ceased, and

(ii) has not made, and whose partner has not made, a claim for a bonus before the day in respect of which the most recent entitlement to a qualifying benefit arose,

shall be treated as not satisfying the requirements of paragraph (4)(d) for the period of 12 weeks following the day on which training ceased;

(c) who—

(i) claims, or whose partner claims, a qualifying benefit before the end of the period of 12 weeks following the day on which the separation occurred, and

(ii) has not made, and whose partner has not made a claim for bonus before the day in respect of which the most recent entitlement to a qualifying benefit arose,

shall be treated as not satisfying the requirements of paragraph (5)(f) for the period of 12 weeks following the day on which the separation occurred.”.

(7) After paragraph (7) there shall be added the following paragraph—

“(8) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (7) a person shall be able to claim a bonus where he satisfies the work condition or either of the requirements specified in paragraph (4)(c) or the requirements specified in paragraph (5)(c) following the day in respect of which the most recent period of entitlement to a qualifying benefit arose.”.