Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.-�(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Additional Statutory Paternity Pay (Health and Social Care Employees) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010 and come into operation on 3rd October 2010.

(2) In these Regulations-�

-�the Act-� means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992;

-�additional statutory paternity pay-� means additional statutory paternity pay payable in accordance with the provisions of Part 12ZA of the Act where the conditions specified in section 167ZEA(2) or 167ZEB(2) are satisfied(3);

-�additional statutory paternity pay period-� means the period, determined in accordance with section 167ZEE of the Act(4) and with regulations(5) made under that section, as the period in respect of which additional statutory paternity pay is payable;

-�Regional Health and Social Care Board-� means the body established under Article 7 of the Health and Social Care (Reform) Act (Northern Ireland) 2009(6);

(3) References in these Regulations to Part 12ZA of the Act are references to sections 167ZEA to 167ZEE and, in so far as they concern additional statutory paternity pay, to sections 167ZF to 167ZJ of the Act.

Treatment of more than one contract of employment as one contract

2. Where, as a consequence of the establishment of one or more Health and Social Care trusts under Article 10 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991(7), a person-�s contract of employment is treated by a scheme under Article 12 of that Order as divided so as to constitute two or more contracts, that person may elect for all those contracts to be treated as one contract for the purposes of Part 12ZA of the Act.

Notification of election

3. A person who makes an election under regulation 2 shall give written notification of that election to each of their employers under the two or more contracts of employment mentioned in that regulation at least 28 days before the beginning of the additional statutory paternity pay period or, if in the particular circumstances that is not practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Provision of information

4. A person who makes an election under regulation 2 shall, within 28 days of giving notification of that election or, if in the particular circumstances that is not practicable, as soon as is reasonably practicable thereafter, provide each of their employers under the two or more contracts of employment mentioned in that regulation with the following information-�

(a)the name and address of each of those employers;

(b)the date their employment with each of those employers commenced; and

(c)details of their normal weekly earnings during the relevant period from each employer, and for this purpose the expressions -�normal weekly earnings-� and -�relevant period-� have the same meanings as they have for the purposes of Part 12ZA of the Act(8).

Treatment of two or more employers as one

5. The employer to be regarded for the purposes of additional statutory paternity pay as the employer under the one contract where two or more contracts of employment are treated as one in accordance with regulation 2 shall be-�

(a)the Regional Health and Social Care Board from which the person was transferred in a case where any one of the contracts of employment is with that Regional Health and Social Care Board; or

(b)the first Health and Social Care trust to which a contract of employment was transferred in a case where none of the contracts of employment are with the Regional Health and Social Care Board.

Time for which an election is to have effect

6. An election made under regulation 2 shall lapse at the end of the additional statutory paternity pay period.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for Employment and Learning on 9th September 2010.

Sir Reg Empey

Minister for Employment and Learning

The Commissioners for Her Majesty-�s Revenue and Customs concur.

Mike Eland

Bernadette Kenny

Two of the Commissioners for Her Majesty-�s Revenue and Customs

Date 15th September 2010

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations, made under a provision inserted into the Social Security Contributions and Benefits (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (-�the 1992 Act-�) by Article 5 of the Employment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/2836 (N.I. 2)), allow certain Health and Social Care employees with two or more contracts of employment to elect, for the purposes of the additional statutory paternity pay provisions of Part 12ZA of the 1992 Act, to treat those contracts as one contract.

Regulation 2 provides for employees whose contract of employment has been divided into two or more contracts to elect to have those contracts treated as one contract for the purposes of entitlement to additional statutory paternity pay.

Regulation 3 provides for the manner in which, and the time within which, such an election is to be made.

Regulation 4 makes provision for the information that an employee making such an election is to provide to his or her employers.

Regulation 5 provides for one of a person-�s employers under the two or more contracts to be regarded for the purposes of additional statutory paternity pay as his or her employer under the one contract.

Regulation 6 provides for the time within which an election is to have effect.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as a negligible impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen.