Regulation 3 Insertion of regulation 6A in the principal Regulations

After regulation 6 of the principal Regulations (provisions relating to suspension of employment in employed earner’s employment) there shall be inserted the following regulation–

“Requalification period

6A

(1)

Where paragraph (2) applies to a person during one or more of the 26 weeks referred to in subsection (2) of section 18^f1 which applies in his case, for the reference to 26 weeks in that subsection there shall be substituted a reference to the period prescribed under paragraph (3).

(2)

This paragraph applies to a person in respect of any week if he does not work in employed earner’s employment for 16 hours or more and on at least one day in that week–

(a)

he was a person entitled to receive sickness benefit, invalidity pension, maternity allowance, invalid care allowance or severe disablement allowance; or

(b)

he was incapable of work for the purposes of section 14(1)(b) or treated as incapable of work by virtue of section 22(4); or

(c)

he was a person entitled to receive statutory sick pay within the meaning of section 1(1) of the Social Security and Housing Benefits Act 1982 or statutory maternity pay within the meaning of section 46(1) of the Social Security Act 1986; or

(d)

he was a person undergoing any employment or training programme for which a training allowance is payable.

(3)

For the purposes of paragraph (1), the period shall be either–

(a)

the period immediately preceding the day mentioned in section 18(2)(a) or (b) (as the case may be)–

(i)

which includes the last 26 weeks (whether consecutive or not) in respect of which paragraph (2) did not apply to the person, and

(ii)

which begins on the first day of those 26 weeks; or

(b)

78 weeks,

whichever is the shorter.”.