Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992

[F1 167ZL Entitlement N.I.

(1) Where a person who is, or has been, an employee satisfies the conditions in subsection (2), he shall be entitled in accordance with the following provisions of this Part of this Act to payments to be known as “statutory adoption pay”.

(2) The conditions are—

(a) that he is a person with whom a child is, or is expected to be, placed for adoption under the law of any part of the United Kingdom;

(b) that he has been in employed earner’s employment with an employer for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks ending with the relevant week;

(c) that he has ceased to work for the employer;

(d) that his normal weekly earnings for the period of 8 weeks ending with the relevant week are not less than the lower earnings limit in force under section 5(1)(a) above at the end of the relevant week; and

(e) that he has elected to receive statutory adoption pay.

(3) The references in subsection (2)(b) and (d) above to the relevant week are to the week in which the person is notified that he has been matched with the child for the purposes of adoption.

(4) A person may not elect to receive statutory adoption pay if—

(a) he has elected in accordance with section 167ZB above to receive statutory paternity pay; or

(b) where the child is, or is expected to be, placed for adoption with him as a member of a [F2 couple and the other member of the couple] is a person to whom the conditions in subsection (2) above apply, [F3 that other member of the couple] has elected to receive statutory adoption pay.

[F4 (4A) In subsection (4)(b) “couple” has the same meaning as in the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 (see Article 2(6) to (8) of that Order).]

(5) A person’s entitlement to statutory adoption pay shall not be affected by the placement, or expected placement, for adoption of more than one child as part of the same arrangement.

(6) A person shall be entitled to payments of statutory adoption pay only if—

(a) he gives the person who will be liable to pay it notice of the date from which he expects the liability to pay him statutory adoption pay to begin; and

(b) the notice is given at least 28 days before that date or, if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable.

(7) The notice shall be in writing if the person who is liable to pay the statutory adoption pay so requests.

(8) The Department may by regulations—

(a) provide that subsection (2)(b), (c) or (d) above shall have effect subject to prescribed modifications in such cases as may be prescribed;

(b) provide that subsection (6) above shall not have effect, or shall have effect subject to prescribed modifications, in such cases as may be prescribed;

(c) impose requirements about evidence of entitlement;

(d) specify in what circumstances employment is to be treated as continuous for the purposes of this section;

(e) provide that a person is to be treated for the purposes of this section as being employed for a continuous period of at least 26 weeks where—

(i) he has been employed by the same employer for at least 26 weeks under two or more separate contracts of service; and

(ii) those contracts were not continuous;

(f) provide for amounts earned by a person under separate contracts of service with the same employer to be aggregated for the purposes of this section;

(g) provide that—

(i) the amount of a person’s earnings for any period, or

(ii) the amount of his earnings to be treated as comprised in any payment made to him or for his benefit,

shall be calculated or estimated for the purposes of this section in, such manner and on such basis as may be prescribed and that for that purpose payments of a particular class or description made or falling to be made to or by a person shall, to such extent as may be prescribed, be disregarded or, as the case may be, be deducted from the amount of his earnings;

(h) make provision about elections for statutory adoption pay.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Pt. XIIZB (ss. 167ZL-167ZT) inserted (8.12.2002) by The Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2836 (N.I. 2)), arts. 1(2), 6; S.R. 2002/356, art. 2(2), Sch. 1 Pt. II

F2 Words in s. 167ZL(4)(b) substituted (13.1.2020) by The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1514), regs. 1(2), 66(16)(a)(i) (with regs. 6-9)

F3 Words in s. 167ZL(4)(b) substituted (13.1.2020) by The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1514), regs. 1(2), 66(16)(a)(ii) (with regs. 6-9)

F4 S. 167ZL(4A) inserted (13.1.2020) by The Marriage (Same-sex Couples) and Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/1514), regs. 1(2), 66(16)(b) (with regs. 6-9)