Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 6th April 2005.

Amendment of the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations

2.—(1) The Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987(4) shall be amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (4).

(2) In regulation 1(2) (citation, commencement and interpretation) after the definition of “the 1986 Order” there shall be inserted the following definition –

““statutory maternity leave” means ordinary maternity leave and any additional maternity leave under, respectively, Articles 103 and 105 of the Employment Rights (Northern Ireland) Order 1996(5).”.

(3) In regulation 21 (normal weekly earnings) for paragraph (7)(6) there shall be substituted the following paragraph –

“(7) In any case where –

(a)a woman is awarded a pay increase (or would have been awarded such an increase had she not been absent on statutory maternity leave); and

(b)that pay increase applies to the whole or any part of the period between the beginning of the relevant period and the end of her period of statutory maternity leave,

her normal weekly earnings shall be calculated as if such an increase applied in each week of the relevant period.”.

(4) For regulation 21B(7) (effect of maternity allowance on statutory maternity pay) there shall substituted the following regulation –

“Effect of maternity allowance on statutory maternity pay

21B.  Where a woman in any week which falls within the maternity pay period, is –

(a)in receipt of maternity allowance pursuant to the provisions of sections 35 and 35A of the Contributions and Benefits Act(8); and

(b)entitled to receive statutory maternity pay in consequence of receiving a pay increase referred to in regulation 21(7),

the employer shall not be liable to make payments of statutory maternity pay in respect of such a week unless, and to the extent by which, the rate of statutory maternity pay(9) exceeds the rate of maternity allowance(10) received by her in that week.”.

Revocation

3.  Regulations 2(b) and 3 of the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996(11) are hereby revoked.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Statutory Maternity Pay (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1987 (“the 1987 Regulations”).

Regulation 2(2) amends regulation 1 of the 1987 Regulations by inserting a definition of statutory maternity leave.

Regulation 2(3) amends regulation 21 of the 1987 Regulations to include in normal weekly earnings for the purpose of calculating entitlement to statutory maternity pay any pay increase which applies to the whole or any part of the period between the beginning of the period when pay is calculated to determine entitlement to statutory maternity pay and the end of the period of statutory maternity leave.

Regulation 2(4) substitutes regulation 21B of the 1987 Regulations. The substituted regulation provides that where a woman who is entitled to statutory maternity pay in consequence of a pay increase referred to in regulation 21(7) of the 1987 Regulations, the employer shall only make payments of statutory maternity pay in any week if, and to the extent that, her statutory maternity pay exceeds any maternity allowance received by her.

Regulation 3 makes consequential revocations.

These Regulations make in relation to Northern Ireland only provision corresponding to provision contained in Regulations made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in relation to Great Britain and accordingly, by virtue of section 149(3) of, and paragraph 10 of Schedule 5 to, the Social Security Administration (Northern Ireland) Act 1992 (c. 8), are not subject to the requirement of section 149(2) of that Act for prior reference to the Social Security Advisory Committee.

An assessment of the cost to business of these Regulations is detailed in a Regulatory Impact Assessment, copies of which have been laid in the Business Office and the Library of the Northern Ireland Assembly. Copies of the Assessment are available from the Department for Social Development, Social Security Policy and Legislation Division, Room 5, Block 5, Stormont Estate, Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast BT4 3SJ.