The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations 1996

Persons treated as not engaged in remunerative work

53.  A person shall be treated as not engaged in remunerative work in so far as—

(a) he is engaged by a charity or a voluntary organisation or is a volunteer where the only payment received by him or due to be paid to him is a payment which is to be disregarded under regulation 103(2) and paragraph 2 of Schedule 7 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings) [F1 and in this paragraph “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];

(b) he is engaged on a scheme for which a training allowance is being paid;

[F2 (bb) he is receiving assistance [F3 under the self-employment route];]

[F4 [F5 (c) a person who—

(i) is in employment;

(ii) lives in, or is temporarily absent from a care 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.]]

(d) he is engaged in employment as–

F6 (i) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F7 (ia) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F8 (ib) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F9 (i) a part-time fire-fighter employed by a fire and rescue authority under the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 or by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service established under section 1A of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005;]

(ii) an auxiliary coastguard in respect of coastal rescue activities;

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

(iv) a member of any F10 ... reserve force prescribed in Part I of [F11 Schedule 6 to the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001];

(e) he is performing his duties as a councillor, and for this purpose “councillor" has the same meaning as in section 171F(2) of the Benefits ActF12 ;

(f) he is engaged in caring for a person who is accommodated with him by virtue of arrangements made under any of the provisions referred to in paragraph 27 or 28 of Schedule 7 (sums to be disregarded in the calculation of income other than earnings), and is in receipt of any payment specified in that paragraph;

[F13 (fa) he is engaged in caring for a person who is provided with continuing care by a local authority by virtue of arrangements made under section 26A of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and is in receipt of a payment made under that section of that Act;]

(g) he is–

(i) the partner of the claimant; and

(ii) involved in a trade dispute; and (iii) not a person to whom regulation 52(2) applies,

and had he claimed a jobseeker’s allowance, section 14 (trade disputes) would have applied in his case;

[F14 (gg) he is—

(i) a member of a joint-claim couple; and

(ii) involved in a trade dispute; and

(iii) not a person to whom regulation 52(2A) applies,

and had the joint-claim couple of which he is a member claimed a jobseeker’s allowance jointly, section 14 (trade disputes) would have applied in the case of one or both members of that couple;]

[F15 (h) he is mentally or physically disabled, and by reason of that disability—

(i) his 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) his number of hours [F16 of] work 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.]

[F17 (i) he is engaged in an activity in respect of which—

(i) a sports award had been made, or is to be made, to him; and

(ii) no other payment is made or is expected to be made to him.]

[F18 (k) he is engaged in the programme known as Work Experience.]

[F19 (l) he is participating in the Mandatory Work Activity Scheme.]

F20 (m) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[F21 (m) he is participating in a scheme prescribed in regulation 3 of the Jobseeker's Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in reg. 53(a) inserted (6.4.2010) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/641), regs. 1(1), 4(5)

F2 Reg. 53(bb) inserted (27.11.2000) by The Social Security Amendment (Employment Zones) (No. 2) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/2910), reg. 3

F3 Words in reg. 53(bb) substituted (4.5.2004) by The Social Security (Income-Related Benefits Self-Employment Route Amendment) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/963), regs. 1(1), 4

F4 Reg. 53(c) substituted (24.10.2005) by The Social Security (Care Homes and Independent Hospitals) Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/2687), reg. 1, Sch. 2 para. 2

F5 Reg. 53(c) revoked in part (25.1.2010) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 5) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/3228), regs. 1(2), 4(1)(b)(i) (with reg. 4(3)(5))

F6 Reg. 53(d)(i) omitted (E.W.) (29.10.2013) by virtue of The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/2536), regs. 1(1), 6(5)(a); revoked (S.) (2.8.2005) by The Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2060), art. 1(2)(f), Sch. para. 10(3)(a)

F7 Reg. 53(d)(ia) omitted (E.W.) (29.10.2013) by virtue of The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/2536), regs. 1(1), 6(5)(b)

F8 Reg. 53(d)(ib) omitted (S.) (29.10.2013) by virtue of The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/2536), regs. 1(1), 6(5)(c)

F9 Reg. 53(d)(i) inserted (29.10.2013) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 3) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/2536), regs. 1(1), 6(5)(d)

F10 Words in reg. 53(d)(iv) omitted (6.4.2015) by virtue of The Social Security (Members of the Reserve Forces) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/389), regs. 1, 3(7)(c)

F11 Words in reg. 53(d)(iv) substituted (2.10.2006) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 2006/2378), regs. 1(3), 13(3)(b)

F12 Section 171F was inserted by the Social Security (Incapacity for Work) Act 1994 (c.18), section 6(1).

F13 Reg. 53(fa) inserted (7.11.2017) by The Social Security and Child Support (Care Payments and Tenant Incentive Scheme) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 (S.I. 2017/995), regs. 1, 11(2)

F14 Reg. 53(gg) inserted (19.3.2001) by The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Joint Claims) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000/1978), reg. 1(1), Sch. 2 para. 16

F15 Reg. 53(h) revoked in part (25.1.2010) by The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 5) Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/3228), regs. 1(2), 4(1)(b)(i) (with reg. 4(3)(5))

F16 Word in reg. 53(h)(ii) inserted (7.10.1996) by The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Amendment) Regulations 1996 (S.I. 1996/1516), reg. 1(1), Sch. Pt. 2

F17 Reg. 53(i) added (23.8.1999) by The Social Security Amendment (Sports Awards) Regulations 1999 (S.I. 1999/2165), regs. 1(1), 7(2)

F18 Reg. 53(k) inserted (5.4.2011) by The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Work Experience) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/789), regs. 1, 2(4)

F19 Words in reg. 53(l) inserted (25.4.2011) by The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Mandatory Work Activity Scheme) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/688), regs. 1, 16(c)

F20 Reg. 53(m) omitted (12.2.2013) by virtue of Jobseekers (Back to Work Schemes) Act 2013 (c. 17), ss. 1(14), 3(2) (with s. 1(10))

F21 Reg. 53(m) inserted (12.2.2013 at 6.45pm) by The Jobseeker’s Allowance (Schemes for Assisting Persons to Obtain Employment) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/276), regs. 1, 14(c)