The Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity Pay (Normal Weekly Earnings etc.) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2020 No. 69

Social Security

Terms And Conditions Of Employment

The Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity Pay (Normal Weekly Earnings etc.) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020

Made

24th April 2020

Coming into operation

25th April 2020

The Department for Communities(1), makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 35A(5)(a), 167(6) and 171(1), (3) and (4) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992(2), and now vested in it(3), and of all other powers enabling it in that behalf, with the concurrence of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, in so far as such concurrence is required(4).

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Maternity Allowance and Statutory Maternity Pay (Normal Weekly Earnings etc.) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 and come into operation on 25th April 2020.

Application

2.—(1) The amendments made by regulation 3 apply only in relation to the calculation of normal weekly earnings for the purpose of determining—

(a) the entitlement of a person to statutory maternity pay under section 160 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (“the 1992 Act”); or

(b) the rate at which statutory maternity pay under section 162 of the 1992 Act is to be paid to that person,

in a case where the first day of the period in respect of which statutory maternity pay is to be made is on or after the day on which these Regulations come into operation.

(2) The amendments made by regulation 4 apply only in relation to the calculation of the average weekly amount of specified payments made to a woman for the purpose of determining—

(a) the entitlement of the woman to a maternity allowance under section 35 of the 1992 Act; or

(b) the rate at which that allowance is to be paid to the woman,

in a case where the first day of the period in respect of which payment of that allowance is to be made is on or after the day on which these Regulations come into operation.

Amendment of the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations

3.  In regulation 21 of the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(5) (normal weekly earnings), after paragraph (7)(6) add—

“(8) Paragraph (9) applies where for all or part of the relevant period—

(a) a woman is a furloughed employee;

(b) the woman’s employer has claimed and is in receipt of financial support in respect of the woman’s earnings under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and

(c) the woman’s earnings are lower than they would otherwise have been as a result of that woman being a furloughed employee.

(9) Where this paragraph applies, the woman’s normal weekly earnings are to be calculated as if, during the parts of the relevant period when the woman was a furloughed employee, she was paid the amount which she would have derived from her employment had she not been a furloughed employee.

(10) For the purposes of paragraphs (8) and (9)—

“Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme” (“the Scheme”) means any scheme to provide for payments to be made to employers on a claim made in respect of them incurring costs of employment in respect of furloughed employees arising from the health, social and economic emergency in the United Kingdom resulting from coronavirus and coronavirus disease and contained in such Directions as may be issued from time to time pursuant to section 76 of the Coronavirus Act 2020(7);

“coronavirus” and “coronavirus disease” have the meanings given in section 1 of that Act;

“furloughed employee” has the meaning given for the purposes of the Scheme.”.

Amendment of the Social Security (Maternity Allowance) (Earnings) Regulations

4.  In regulation 6 of the Social Security (Maternity Allowance) (Earnings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000(8) (determination of average weekly amount of specified payments), after paragraph (3)(9) add—

“(4) Paragraph (5) applies in respect of a week where–

(a) a woman is a furloughed employee;

(b) the woman’s employer has claimed and is in receipt of financial support in respect of the woman’s earnings under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme; and;

(c) the woman’s earnings are lower than they would otherwise have been as a result of the woman being a furloughed employee.

(5) Where any of the weeks in the period of 13 weeks referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) is a week to which this paragraph applies, the average weekly amount of the specified payments are to be determined as if for that week she were paid the amount she would have derived from her employment had she not been a furloughed employee.

(6) For the purposes of paragraphs (4) and (5)—

“Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme” (“the Scheme”) means any scheme to provide for payments to be made to employers on a claim made in respect of them incurring costs of employment in respect of furloughed employees arising from the health, social and economic emergency in the United Kingdom resulting from coronavirus and coronavirus disease and contained in such Directions as may be issued from time to time pursuant to section 76 of the Coronavirus Act 2020;

“coronavirus” and “coronavirus disease” have the meanings given in section 1 of that Act.

“furloughed employee” has the meaning given for the purposes of the Scheme.”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Communities on 24th April 2020

(L.S.)

Anne McCleary

A senior officer of the Department for Communities

The Commissioners of Inland Revenue hereby concur

Justin Holliday

Angela MacDonald

Two of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue

23rd April 2020

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 and the Social Security (Maternity Allowance) (Earnings) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000.

The amendments in regulation 3 apply for calculating a person’s normal weekly earnings for the purposes of determining entitlement to, and rate of payment of, statutory maternity pay. The amendments in regulation 4 apply for calculating the average weekly amount of specified payments made to a woman for the purpose of determining entitlement to, and rate of payment of, a maternity allowance. Regulation 2 provides that these amendments are to apply where the first day of the period in respect of which payment of any of the benefits is to be made is on or after the day on which these Regulations come into operation.

The amendments apply where a person is a furloughed employee for the purposes of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme which is set out in the Schedule to the Coronavirus Act 2020 Functions of Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme) Direction made on 15th April 2020(10). The claimant’s normal weekly earnings for the purpose of determining entitlement to, or the amount of, statutory maternity pay (or in the case of maternity allowance, the average amount of the specified payment for determining entitlement to, or the amount of, that allowance) are to be calculated as if the person had not been a furloughed employee for all or part of the relevant period.

Hard copies of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme can be obtained from CJRS Policy, 3C/15 100 Parliament Street, Westminster, London SW1A 2BQ.

No regulatory impact assessment has been produced for these Regulations in view of the urgency required to provide additional financial support to those unable to work as a result of coronavirus.

These Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8), are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

(1)

The Department for Social Development was renamed the Department for Communities in accordance with section 1(7) of the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016 (c. 5 (N.I.))

(2)

1992 c. 7; section 35A was inserted by Article 50(3) of the Welfare Reform and Pensions (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/3147 (N.I. 11))

(3)

Functions previously discharged by the Department of Health and Social Services were transferred to the Department for Social Development in accordance with Article 8(b) of S.R. 1999 No. 481 and section 1(7) of the Departments Act (Northern Ireland) 2016

(4)

See section 167(7) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 as added by paragraph 17(3) of Schedule 1 to, the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/671)

(5)

S.R. 1987 No. 30; relevant amending Regulations is S.R. 2005 No. 134

(6)

Paragraph (7) was substituted by regulation 2(3) of S.R. 2005 No. 134

(7)

2020 c. 7

(8)

S.R. 2000 No. 104; relevant amending Regulations is S.R. 2002 No. 354

(9)

Paragraph (3) was added by regulation 6(5)(b) of S.R. 2002 No. 354

(10)

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/879484/200414CJRSDIRECTION-33 FINALSigned.pdf.