The Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001

Earnings period for earnings to be aggregated where the earnings periods for those earnings otherwise would be of different lengths

6.—(1) Paragraphs (2) and (3) apply where—

(a) earnings paid in respect of two or more employed earner’s employments fall to be aggregated; and

(b) the earnings periods in respect of those earnings are, by virtue of regulation 3, 4 or 5, of different lengths.

(2) In a case to which this regulation applies, where (but for its provisions) the earnings period in respect of earnings derived from any of the employments is of a different length from the designated earnings period, the earnings period in respect of any payment of those earnings shall be the designated earnings period.

(3) In this regulation “the designated earnings period” means—

(a) where the earnings are derived from employments which include any contracted-out employment and any non-contracted-out employment and the employed earner is a person in respect of whom minimum contributions are paid by the Board in accordance with section 43 of the Pensions Act (payment of minimum contributions to personal pension schemes)(1), the earnings period in respect of earnings which are derived from such non-contracted-out employment or, if there is more than one such employment, the shorter, or as the case may be the shortest, of the earnings periods derived from such employments; or

(b) where the earnings are derived from employments which include any contracted-out employment and any non-contracted-out employment and the employed earner is not a person in respect of whom minimum contributions are paid by the Board in accordance with section 43 of the Pensions Act, and—

(i) any of the contracted-out employments is COMPS employment, the earnings period in respect of the earnings derived from that COMPS employment or, if there is more than one such employment, the shorter, or as the case may be the shortest, of the earnings periods derived from such employments,

(ii) the contracted-out employment is COSRS employment only, the earnings period in respect of the earnings derived from that COSRS employment or, if there is more than one such employment, the shorter, or (as the case may be) the shortest, of the earnings periods derived from such employments, or

(c) where the earnings are derived from employments which are contracted-out employment only and—

(i) any of the employments is COMPS employment, the earnings period in respect of the earnings derived from that COMPS employment or, if there is more than one such employment, the shorter, or as the case may be the shortest, of the earnings periods derived from such employments,

(ii) all of those employments are COSRS employment, the shorter or shortest of the earnings periods derived from such employments, and

(d) in any other case, the shorter or shortest of the earnings periods in respect of the earnings derived from the employments.

(1)

Section 43 was amended by paragraph 42 of Schedule 5 to the Pensions Act 1995 and paragraph 47 of Schedule 1 to the Transfer Act.