# The Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit) Regulations 1983, Regulation 20: Special provision for certain persons who have been employed abroad


(1) The following provisions of this regulation shall apply for the purposes of contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance, short-term incapacity benefit and contributory employment and support allowance where a person—
(a) has been absent from Great Britain;
(b) has returned to Great Britain; and
(c) throughout the whole period of his absence was ordinarily resident in Great Britain;
and in this regulation “a person” shall mean such a person.
(2) Where a person has paid Class 1 contributions at the standard rate under the Act either—
(a) to the full extent of his liability under regulation 120 of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1979; or
(b) in respect of the first 52 weeks of his employment abroad by virtue of either—
(i) an Order in Council made under section 143 (reciprocity with countries outside the United Kingdom); or
(ii) Council Regulation No. 1408/71/EEC (application of social security schemes to employed persons and their families moving within the Community), as amended from time to time, or Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, as amended from time to time, on the coordination of social security systems;
and the employment, by reference to which his liability mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) or (b), as the case may be, arose, continued throughout the first 52 weeks after the commencement of that liability, he shall be treated as having paid Class 1 contributions on earnings at the lower earnings limit for the relevant tax year for any weeks between the end of that liability and the date of his return to Great Britain which are relevant to his claim.
(3) Where—
(a) a person would have been liable to pay Class 1 contributions at the standard rate under the said regulation 120 but for the provisions of an Order in Council made under section 143;
(b) in relation to his case that Order does not provide for periods of insurance, employment or residence in the other country to which that Order relates to be taken into account in determining title to benefit; and
(c) the employment by reference to which he would have been liable under the said regulation 120 continued throughout the first 52 weeks;
he shall be treated as having paid Class 1 contributions on earnings at the lower earnings limit for the relevant tax year for each week of his absence.
(4) Where—
(a) a person would have been liable to pay Class 1 contributions at the standard rate under the said regulation 120 but for the provisions of either an Order in Council made under section 143 or Council Regulation No. 1408/71/EEC, as amended from time to time, or Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004, as amended from time to time;
(b) the employment by reference to which he would have been liable under the said regulation 120 continued throughout the first 52 weeks from the time that that liability would have commenced; and
(c) that Order or Council Regulation or Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, as the case may be, provides for aggregation of periods of insurance, employment or residence only if an insurance period has been completed since his return to Great Britain, and an insurance period has not been so completed;
any period of insurance, employment, or, as the case may be, residence in the other country to which that Order or Council Regulation or Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, as the case may be, relates which falls in the relevant tax year and which could be taken into account in determining entitlement to benefit if an insurance period had been completed since his return to Great Britain shall be treated as a period in respect of which Class 1 contributions on earnings at the lower earnings limit for that tax year had been paid.
(5) Paragraphs (2) (except in a case to which paragraph (2)(a) applies), (3) and (4) shall not apply in relation to benefit to which this regulation applies for any day in respect of which the person concerned is entitled to a corresponding benefit under the social security scheme of the country in which he was employed.
(6) Where a person satisfies the requirements of paragraph (3)(a) or (4)(a) but the relevant employment did not continue for 52 weeks, he shall be treated as having paid Class 1 contributions on earnings at the lower earnings limit for the relevant tax year for each week for which it did continue.
(7) Where a person to whom regulation 3 of the National Insurance (Residence and Persons Abroad) Regulations 1948 applied—
(a) has paid contributions to the full extent of his liability under that regulation; and
(b) has paid or has had credited to him 45 contributions of any Class under the National Insurance Act 1965 during each contribution year from the year in which his liability ceased until the last contribution year relevant to him which ended before 5th April 1975 (inclusive of both these years);
paragraph (2) shall apply to him, notwithstanding paragraph (2)(a), as if the reference to his liability were a reference to his liability under the said regulation 3.
(8) Paragraph (2) shall not apply to any case where the employment, which gave rise to the liability mentioned in sub-paragraph (a) of that paragraph, commenced before 6th April 1975, unless the person concerned paid contributions under the said Act of 1965 to the full extent of his liability under the said regulation 3.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1983/1598/regulation/20 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/social-security-unemployment-sickness-and-invalidity-benefit-regulations-1983/regulation-20
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.