The requirement to be in qualifying paid work
9.—(1) For the purposes of the Act, a person is in qualifying paid work if—
(a)the person is in paid work as an employed person whose expected income from the work in the period specified in paragraph (4) is greater than or equal to the relevant threshold; or
(b)the person is in paid work as a self-employed person and either—
(i)the person’s expected income from the work in the period specified in paragraph (4) is greater than or equal to the relevant threshold; or
(ii)the person’s expected income from the work in the period specified in paragraph (5) is greater than or equal to four times the relevant threshold.
(2) For the purposes of this regulation—
(a)a person is to be treated as in paid work as an employed person if the person—
(i)has accepted an offer of work on or before the date of the declaration of eligibility; and
(ii)expects the work to start within 14 days of that day; and
(b)a person is to be treated as in paid work as an employed person if the person—
(i)is absent from work on unpaid leave on the date of the declaration of eligibility; and
(ii)expects to return to work within 14 days of that day.
(3) A person’s “expected income” is the income which the person has a reasonable expectation of receiving, calculated in accordance with regulation 10.
(4) The period specified in this paragraph is—
(a)the period of 3 months beginning with the date of the declaration of eligibility; or
(b)if paragraph (2)(a) or (2)(b) applies, the period of 3 months beginning with the day on which the work is expected to start or the person is expected to return to work.
(5) The period specified in this paragraph is, in relation to a declaration of eligibility, the tax year in which the date of the declaration falls.
(6) In this regulation, “the relevant threshold” is the product of the calculation—
where—
M is the minimum weekly income; and
W is the number of weeks in the period specified in paragraph (4).