The Employment and Support Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008

Circumstances under which partners of claimants entitled to an income-related allowance are not to be treated as engaged in remunerative work

43.—(1) A claimant’s partner is not to be treated as engaged in remunerative work in so far as—

(a) the partner is engaged in child minding in the partner’s home;

(b) the partner is engaged by a charity or voluntary organisation, or is a volunteer, where the only payment received by the partner or due to be paid to the partner, is a payment which is to be disregarded under regulation 104(2) (calculation of income other than earnings) and paragraph 2 of Schedule 8 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings);

(c) the partner is engaged on a scheme for which a training allowance is being paid;

(d) the partner is receiving assistance under the self-employment route;

(e) the partner is engaged in employment as any one of the following—

(i) a part-time fire and rescue officer employed by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board established under Article 3 of the Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006(1),

(ii) an auxiliary coastguard in respect of coast rescue activities,

(iii) a person engaged part-time in the manning or launching of a lifeboat,

(iv) a member of any territorial or reserve force prescribed in Part 1 of Schedule 1;

(f) the partner is undertaking work as a councillor;

(g) the partner is engaged in caring for a person who is accommodated with the partner by virtue of arrangements made under any of the provisions referred to in paragraph 27 or 28 of Schedule 8 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) and the partner is in receipt of any payment specified in that paragraph; or

(h) the partner is engaged in an activity in respect of which—

(i) a sports award has been made, or is to be made, to the partner, and

(ii) no other payment is made or is expected to be made to the partner.

(2) A claimant’s partner is not to be treated as engaged in remunerative work, where the partner is—

(a) a person who is mentally or physically disabled and by reason of that disability—

(i) the person’s earnings are reduced to 75 per cent. or less of what a person without that disability and working the same number of hours would reasonably be expected to earn in that employment or in comparable employment in the area, or

(ii) the person’s number of hours are 75 per cent. or less of what a person without that disability would reasonably be expected to undertake in that employment or in comparable employment in the area;

(b) subject to regulation 42(4) (partners treated as engaged in remunerative work), a person who would otherwise have satisfied section 125(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act(2) (trade disputes) or in respect of whom section 123(1) of that Act(3) (conditions of entitlement to income support) would otherwise have had effect as modified by section 126(b) of that Act(4) (effect of return to work);

(c) a person who would otherwise satisfy the conditions set out in paragraph 4 of Schedule 1B to the Income Support Regulations(5);

(d) a person who—

(i) is in employment,

(ii) lives in, or is temporarily absent from, a residential care home, a nursing home, an Abbeyfield Home or an independent hospital, and

(iii) requires personal care by reason of old age, disablement, past or present dependence on alcohol or drugs, past or present mental disorder or a terminal illness.

(3) The claimant’s partner is not to be treated as engaged in remunerative work on any day on which that partner is on maternity leave, paternity leave or adoption leave or is absent from work because the partner is ill.

(4) In this regulation—

“work as a councillor” has the meaning given by regulation 40;

“volunteer” means a person who is engaged in voluntary work otherwise than for a relative, where the only payment received or due to be paid to the person by virtue of being so engaged is in respect of any expenses reasonably incurred by the person in connection with that work.

(1)

S.I. 2006/1254 (N.I. 9)

(2)

Section 125(1) was amended by paragraph 31 of Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) (Northern Ireland) Order 1994 (S.I. 1994/1898 (N.I.12)) and paragraph 14 of Schedule 2 to the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 (S.I. 1995/2705 (N.I. 15))

(3)

Section 123(1) was amended by paragraph 13 of Schedule 2 and Schedule 3 to the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, paragraph 2 of Schedule 2 to the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c. 14 (N.I.)) and paragraph 96 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33)

(4)

Section 126 was amended by paragraph 15 of Schedule 2 to the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and paragraph 98 of Schedule 24 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004

(5)

Schedule 1B was inserted by regulation 22 of S.R. 1996 No. 199 and paragraph 4 was amended by regulation 33 of S.R. 1996 No. 358, regulation 4(1) of S.R. 2000 No. 74, regulation 3(3) of S.R. 2002 No. 80 and paragraph 1(g) of the Schedule to, S.R. 2002 No. 323 and regulation 3(3) of S.R. 2002 No. 80