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PART IV
Sickness Allowance
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Sickness allowance.
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15.—Part III of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after Chapter 12 (inserted by section 13 of the Act of 1996) of the following Chapter:
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“Chapter 13
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Sickness Allowance
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Interpretation.
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191F.—(1) In this Chapter, ‘weekly means’ means the yearly means divided by 52:
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Provided that the amount so calculated shall be rounded up to the nearest £1 where it is a multiple of 50p but not also a multiple of £1 and shall be rounded to the nearest £1 where it is not a multiple of 50p or £1.
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(2) In this Chapter, references to means shall be construed as references to means prescribed for the purposes of this Chapter.
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Entitlement to allowance.
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191G.—(1) Subject to this Act, a person shall be entitled to sickness allowance in respect of any day of incapacity for work which forms part of a period of interruption of employment, if—
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(a) the person has attained the age of 18 years and is under pensionable age, and
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(b) the person's weekly means, subject to subsection (2), do not exceed the amount of sickness allowance (including any increases thereof) that would be payable to the person under this Chapter if that person had no means.
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(2) Where the spouse of a claimant for sickness allowance is not the claimant's qualified adult, or is a spouse in respect of whom an increase is payable by virtue of regulations made under section 245A the means of the claimant shall be taken to be one-half the means.
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(3) (a) Other than in the case of a person who immediately before the first day of incapacity for work in respect of which the allowance is claimed was in receipt of any benefit or assistance, a person shall not be entitled to sickness allowance for such period, commencing on the first day of incapacity within a period of interruption of employment, as may be prescribed,
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(b) any period during which a person is disqualified for receiving sickness allowance shall not be reckoned in the computation of any continuous period of interruption of employment of such person.
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(4) For the purposes of any provision of this Act relating to sickness allowance—
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(a) a day shall not be treated in relation to any person as a day of incapacity for work unless on that day the person is incapable of work,
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(b) ‘day of interruption of employment’ means a day which is a day of incapacity for work or of unemployment,
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(c) any 3 days of interruption of employment, whether consecutive or not, within a period of 6 consecutive days shall be treated as a period of interruption of employment and any two such periods not separated by a period of more than 13 weeks shall be treated as one period of interruption of employment,
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(d) Sunday shall not be treated as a day of incapacity for work or of unemployment and shall be disregarded in computing any period of consecutive days,
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(e) a day shall not be treated in relation to any person as a day of incapacity for work if, in respect of that day, the person is being paid by his employer.
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(5) The amount payable by way of allowance for any day of incapacity for work shall be one-sixth of the appropriate weekly rate, subject to the total amount being paid at any time by virtue of this subsection being rounded up to the nearest 10p where it is a multiple of 5p but not also a multiple of 10p and being rounded to the nearest 10p where it is not a multiple of 5p or 10p.
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(6) Regulations may make provision (subject to subsection (4)) as to the days which are or are not to be treated for the purposes of sickness allowance as days of incapacity for work and the regulations may provide that the circumstances in which days are or are not to be treated as days of incapacity for work may vary in relation to the nature and duration of the incapacity.
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Rates of allowance and effect of means on rates.
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191H.—(1) Subject to this Chapter, the rate (in this Chapter referred to as ‘the scheduled rate’) of sickness allowance shall be—
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(a) in the case of a person who, in any period of interruption of employment as construed in accordance with section 191G(4), has been in receipt of sickness allowance, sickness benefit, disability allowance, unemployment benefit or unemployment assistance for not less than 390 days of incapacity for work or of unemployment, the weekly rate set out in column (2) at reference 10 (a) in Part I of the Fourth Schedule,
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(b) in any other case, the weekly rate set out in column (2) at reference 10 (b) in Part I of the Fourth Schedule,
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increased by—
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(i) the amount set out in column (3) of that Part opposite that reference for any period during which the claimant or beneficiary has a qualified adult, subject to the restriction that, except where regulations otherwise provide, the claimant or beneficiary shall not be entitled for the same period to an increase of the allowance under this subparagraph in respect of more than one person, and
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(ii) the appropriate rate set out in column (4) of that Part opposite that reference in respect of each qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary.
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(2) Sickness allowance shall be payable—
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(a) where the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary are less than £1, at the scheduled rate,
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(b) where such weekly means are equal to £1, at the scheduled rate reduced by £1, and
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(c) where such weekly means exceed £1, at the scheduled rate, reduced by £1 for each amount (if any) of £1 by which those weekly means exceed £1:
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Provided that, if the weekly means of the claimant or beneficiary are equal to or exceed the scheduled rate, no sickness allowance shall be payable.
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Amount of increases payable in respect of qualified child in certain cases.
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191I.—Any increase of sickness allowance payable pursuant to section 191H in respect of a qualified child who normally resides with the claimant or beneficiary and with the spouse of the claimant or beneficiary shall be payable at the rate of one-half of the appropriate amount in any case where the spouse of the claimant or beneficiary is not a qualified adult, and section 191H shall be construed and have effect accordingly.
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Total amount payable to a couple.
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191J.—(1) Where one of a couple is entitled to sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, injury benefit, disablement pension, old age (contributory) pension, old age (non-contributory) pension, retirement pension or disability pension and the other is entitled to sickness allowance, the total of the amount payable to them by way of such benefit or pension, as the case may be, and such sickness allowance (in this subsection referred to as ‘the relevant amount’) shall not exceed the total amount of benefit or pension, as the case may be, or the total amount of sickness allowance, whichever is the greater (in this subsection referred to as ‘the greater amount’) that would be payable if only one of the couple were in receipt of benefit, pension or sickness allowance, as the case may be, and the benefit, pension or sickness allowance included an increase in respect of the other as his qualified adult; and, if the relevant amount would but for this subsection exceed the greater amount, the amount of sickness allowance payable to the spouse who is entitled to such sickness allowance shall be reduced by the amount of the excess.
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(2) Where one of a couple is entitled to unemployment assistance, pre-retirement allowance or disability allowance and the other is entitled to sickness allowance, the total amount payable to them pursuant to this Act shall not exceed the amount which would be payable if only one of them was entitled to be paid unemployment assistance, pre-retirement allowance, disability allowance or sickness allowance, as the case may be, and the other was a qualified adult, and each of them shall be entitled to be paid one-half of the amount which would be payable to him if the other were his qualified adult.
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(3) In this section ‘couple’ means a married couple who are living together or a man and woman who are not married to each other but are cohabiting as husband and wife.
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Disqualifications.
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191K.—Regulations may provide for disqualifying a person for receiving sickness allowance for such period not exceeding 9 weeks as may be determined under the provisions of this Chapter if he or she fails without good cause to attend for or to submit himself or herself to such medical or other examination or treatment as may be required in accordance with the regulations, or to observe any prescribed rules of behaviour.”.
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