The Social Security (Payments on account, Overpayments and Recovery) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1988

Award and protected earnings

19.—(1) Where an adjudicating authority determines that a person claiming income support is entitled by virtue of Article 24A of the Order (effect of return to work after a trade dispute) and makes an award to him accordingly the authority shall determine the claimant's protected earnings (that is to say the amount below which his actual earnings must not be reduced by any deduction made under this Part).

(2) The adjudicating authority shall include in its decision—

(a) the amount of income support awarded together with a statement that the claimant is a person entitled by virtue of Article 24A of the Order and that accordingly any sum paid to him on that award will be recoverable from him as provided in this Part;

(b) the amount of the claimant's protected earnings; and

(c) a statement of the claimant's duty under regulation 28 (duty to give notice of cessation or resumption of employment).

(3) The protected earnings of the claimant shall be the sum determined by—

(a) taking the sum specified in paragraph (4),

(b) adding the sum specified in paragraph (5), and

(c) subtracting from the result any child benefit which falls to be taken into account in calculating his income for the purposes of Part V of the Income Support Regulations.

(4) The sum referred to in paragraph (3)(a) shall be the aggregate of the amounts calculated under regulation 17(a) to (d), 18(a) to (e), 20 or 21, as the case may be, of the Income Support Regulations.

(5) The sum referred to in paragraph (3)(b) shall be £27 except where the sum referred to in paragraph (3)(a) includes an amount calculated under regulation 20 of the Income Support Regulations in which case the sum shall be £8.