National Insurance Act 1965

20 Determination of days for which unemployment or sickness benefit is payable.

(1) For the purposes of any provision of this Act relating to unemployment benefit or sickness benefit—

(a) a day shall not be treated in relation to any person—

(i) as a day of unemployment unless on that day he is capable of work and is, or is deemed in accordance with regulations to be, available for employment in an employed contributor's employment;

(ii) as a day of incapacity for work unless on that day he is, or is deemed in accordance with regulations to be, incapable of work by reason of some specific disease or bodily or mental disablement;

(b) where a person is employed in any employed contributor's employment which has not been terminated, then, in any period of seven days commencing with the midnight between Saturday and Sunday, a day on which in the normal course that person would not work in that or any other employed contributor's employment shall not be treated as a day of unemployment unless each other day in that period (other than the day referred to in paragraph (e) of this subsection) on which in the normal course he would so work is a day of interruption of employment;

(c) the expression " day of interruption of employment" means a day which is a day of unemployment or of incapacity for work;

(d) any two days of interruption of employment, whether consecutive or not, within a period of six consecutive days shall be treated as a period of interruption of employment, and any two such periods not separated by a period of more than thirteen weeks shall be treated as one period of interruption of employment;

(e) Sunday or such other day in each week as may be prescribed shall not be treated as a day of unemployment or of incapacity for work and shall be disregarded in computing any period of consecutive days.

(2) Regulations may—

(a) make provision (subject to subsection (1) of this section) as to the days which are or are not to be treated for the purposes of unemployment benefit and sickness benefit as days of unemployment or of incapacity for work;

(b) prescribe respective circumstances in which, for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) of this section—

(i) an employed contributor's employment which has not been terminated may be treated as if it had been terminated; or

(ii) a day which falls during a period when a person's employment in an employed contributor's employment is suspended but does not fall to be treated as aforesaid and which, apart from the provisions of the regulations, would not fall to be treated as a day of interruption of employment may be treated as such a day.