PART 6 EFFECT OF WORK ON ENTITLEMENT TO AN EMPLOYMENT AND SUPPORT ALLOWANCE

37 A claimant who works to be treated as not entitled to an employment and support allowance
1 Subject to the following paragraphs, a claimant is to be treated as not entitled to an employment and support allowance in any week in which that claimant does work.
2 Paragraph (1) does not apply to—
(a) work as a councillor;
(b) duties undertaken on either one full day or 2 half-days a week as a member of an appeal tribunal constituted under Chapter 1 of Part 2 of the 1998 Order;
(c) domestic tasks carried out in the claimant’s own home or the care of a relative;
(d) duties undertaken in caring for another person who is accommodated with the claimant by virtue of arrangements made under any of the provisions referred to in paragraph (7) or where the claimant is in receipt of any payment specified in that paragraph;
(e) any activity the claimant undertakes during an emergency to protect another person or to prevent serious damage to property or livestock; or
(f) any of the categories of work set out in regulation 39(1) (exempt work).
3 This regulation is subject to regulation 40 (effect of work on entitlement to an employment and support allowance where claimant is receiving certain treatment).
4 A claimant who does work to which this regulation applies in a week which is—
(a) the week in which the claimant first becomes entitled to a benefit, allowance or advantage on account of the claimant’s limited capability for work in any period; or
(b) the last week in any period in which the claimant has limited capability for work or is treated as having limited capability for work,
is to be treated as not entitled to an employment and support allowance by virtue of paragraph (1) only on the actual day or days in that week on which the claimant does that work.
5 Regulation 86 (linking period) does not apply for the purposes of calculating the beginning or end of any period of limited capability for work under paragraph (4).
6 The day or days in a week on which a night worker works, for the purposes of paragraph (4), are to be calculated by reference to regulation 24 (night workers).
7 The payments and provisions mentioned in paragraph (2)(d) are—
(a) any payment made by—
(i) an authority to a claimant who is caring for a child by virtue of arrangements made under Article 27(2)(a) of the Children Order (provision of accommodation and maintenance by an authority for children whom it is looking after) or by a voluntary organisation under Article 75(1)(a) of that Order (provision of accommodation by voluntary organisations), or
(ii) a juvenile justice centre, within the meaning of Article 51 of the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998, to a claimant who is caring for a child and whom that child is in the charge of under paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 to that Order;
S.I. 1998/1504 (N.I. 9)
(b) any payment made to the claimant or the claimant’s partner for a person (“the person concerned”), who is not normally a member of the claimant’s household but is temporarily in the claimant’s care, by—
(i) an authority,
(ii) a voluntary organisation,
(iii) the person concerned pursuant to Article 36(7) of the Health and Personal Social Services Order, or
Article 36 was substituted by Article 25 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 (S.I. 1991/194 (N.I. 1)) and amended by paragraph 2(3) to (5) of Schedule 1 to the Registered Homes (Northern Ireland) Order 1992 (S.I. 1992/3204 (N.I. 20)) and section 1(1) and (2) of the Health and Personal Social Services Act (Northern Ireland) 2002 (c.9 (N.I.))
(iv) a juvenile justice centre within the meaning of Article 51(1) of the Criminal Justice (Children) (Northern Ireland) Order 1998.
8 In this regulation—
“week” means a week in respect of which a claimant is entitled to an employment and support allowance;
“work” means any work which a claimant does, whether or not that claimant undertakes it in expectation of payment;
“work as a councillor” includes any work which a claimant undertakes as a member of a district council or any body of which the claimant is a member by reason of being a councillor.
Reg. 37 in operation at 27.9.2017, see reg. 1(2)

38 Claimants who are treated as not entitled to any allowance at all by reason of regulation 37(1) are to be treated as not having limited capability for work
1 Where a claimant is treated as not entitled to an employment and support allowance by reason of regulation 37(1), the claimant is to be treated as not having limited capability for work.
2 Paragraph (1) applies even if—
(a) it has been determined that the claimant has or is to be treated as having, under any of regulations 16 (certain claimants to be treated as having limited capability for work), 21 (hospital patients), 22 (claimants receiving certain treatment) and 25 (exceptional circumstances), limited capability for work; or
(b) the claimant meets the conditions set out in regulation 26(2) for being treated as having limited capability for work until a determination is made in accordance with the limited capability for work assessment.
Reg. 38 in operation at 27.9.2017, see reg. 1(2)

39 Exempt work
1 the categories of work referred to in regulation 37(2)(f) are—
(a) work for which the total earnings in any week does not exceed £20;
(b) work for which the total earnings in any week does not exceed 16 times the national living wage, subject to paragraph (4), and which—
(i) is part of the claimant’s treatment programme and is done under medical supervision while the claimant is an in-patient, or is regularly attending as an out-patient, of a hospital or similar institution, or
(ii) is supervised by a person employed by a public authority or by a voluntary organisation or community interest company engaged in the provision or procurement of work for persons who have disabilities;
(c) work which is done for less than 16 hours a week, for which total earnings in any week does not exceed 16 times the national living wage, subject to paragraph (4), and which is done—
(i) during a work period, provided that paragraph (7) applies, or
(ii) by a claimant who has or is treated as having limited capability for work-related activity;
(d) work done in the course of receiving assistance in pursuing self-employed earner’s employment whilst participating in a programme provided, or in other arrangements made, under section 1 of the Employment and Training Act;
Section 1 was amended by Article 3 of the Employment and Training (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988 (S.I. 1988/1087 (N.I. 10)) and Article 5 of the Industrial Training (Northern Ireland) Order 1990 (S.I. 1990/1200 (N.I. 8))
(e) work done where the claimant receives no payment of earnings and where the claimant is—
(i) engaged by a charity or voluntary organisation, or
(ii) a volunteer,
and where the Department is satisfied in either of those cases that it is reasonable for the claimant to do the work free of charge;
(f) work done in the course of participating in a work placement approved in writing by the Department for Employment and Learning (or a person providing services to that Department) before the placement starts.
2 The number of hours for which a claimant is engaged in work is to be determined—
(a) where no recognisable cycle has been established in respect of a claimant’s work, by reference to the number of hours or, where those hours are likely to fluctuate, the average of the hours, which the claimant is expected to work in a week;
(b) where the number of hours for which the claimant is engaged fluctuate, by reference to the average of hours worked over—
(i) if there is a recognisable cycle of work, the period of one complete cycle (including, where the cycle involves periods in which the claimant does no work, those periods but disregarding any other absences),
(ii) in any other case, the period of 5 weeks immediately before the date of claim or the date on which a superseding decision is made under Article 11 of the 1998 Order (decisions superseding earlier decisions), or such other length of time as may, in the particular case, enable the claimant’s average hours of work to be determined more accurately.
Article 11 was amended by paragraph 17 of Schedule 6 and Schedule 9 to the Social Security Contributions (Transfer of Functions, etc.) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/671)
3 For the purposes of determining the number of hours for which a claimant is engaged in work, that number is to include any time allowed to that claimant by the claimant’s employer for a meal or for refreshment, but only where that claimant is, or expects to be, paid earnings in respect of that time.
4 Where the amount determined by the calculation in paragraph (1)(b) or (c) would, but for this paragraph, include an amount of—
(a) less than 50p, that amount is to be rounded up to the nearest 50p; or
(b) less than £1 but more than 50p, that amount is to be rounded up to the nearest £1.
5 Part 10 applies for the purposes of calculating any income which consists of earnings under this regulation.
6 In this regulation—
“relevant benefit” means—
(a) an employment and support allowance; or
(b) credits under regulations made under section 22(5) of the Contributions and Benefits Act,
Section 22(5) was amended by paragraph 5 of Schedule 2 to the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, paragraph 3(3)(b) of Schedule 3 to the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 (c.2) and paragraph 2 of Schedule 3, and Schedule 12, to the Welfare Reform (Northern Ireland) Order 2015
in respect of which the question of the claimant’s limited capability for work arises under the Act;
“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;
“work period” means a period which begins on the first day on which any work referred to in paragraph (1)(c) is undertaken and continues for a period of 52 weeks, whether or not any further work referred to in paragraph (1)(c) is undertaken during that period;
“work placement” means practical work experience with an employer, which is neither paid nor undertaken in expectation of payment.
7 This paragraph applies where—
(a) the claimant has not previously done any work under paragraph (1)(c);
(b) since the beginning of the last work period, the claimant has ceased to be entitled to a relevant benefit for a continuous period exceeding 12 weeks; or
(c) not less than 52 weeks have elapsed since the last work period.
Reg. 39 in operation at 27.9.2017, see reg. 1(2)

40 Effect of work on entitlement to an employment and support allowance where claimant is receiving certain treatment
Where a claimant who is entitled to an employment and support allowance and is treated as having limited capability for work by virtue of regulation 22 works on any day during a week when the claimant is receiving certain treatment mentioned in regulation 22 or recovering from that treatment, that work is to have no effect on the claimant’s entitlement to the employment and support allowance.
Reg. 40 in operation at 27.9.2017, see reg. 1(2)