The Social Security (Earnings Factor) Regulations 1979

• Citation: S.I. 1979/676
• Sections: 12

Section 1 Citation, commencement and interpretation

(1) These regulations may be cited as the Social Security (Earnings Factor) Regulations 1979 and shall come into operation on 16th July 1979.

(2) In these regulations—

“ the Act ” means the Social Security Act 1975;

...

“ the Contributions Regulations ” means the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 1979;

“ year ” means tax year;

and other expressions have the same meanings as in the Act.

(3) In these regulations references to contributions of any class are to contributions actually of that class notwithstanding that for the purposes of any benefit they may be treated as or be deemed to be contributions of another class.

Section 2 Ascertainment of earnings factors

(1) The earnings factors derived from a person’s earnings paid in, or from earnings credited or Class 2 or Class 3 contributions in respect of, any year shall, subject to paragraph (2) of this regulation, be ascertained in accordance with the rules contained in Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

(2) A person’s earnings factors in respect of the year commencing on 6th April 1988, or any subsequent year, shall not in respect of any such year together exceed an amount equal to 58 times the upper earnings limit of that year.

Section 3 Evidence of official records

For the purposes of Part III of the Act (determination of claims and questions) a certificate signed by a duly authorised officer of the Department of Social Security , as to the manner in which any contributions paid or treated as having been paid or as not repaid have been or are to be recorded in the records of that Department, shall be sufficient evidence of the facts so certified; and any document purporting to be so signed shall be deemed to be so signed unless the contrary is proved.

Section 4 Contributions to be treated as having been paid or as not repaid

For the purposes of paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to these regulations—

(a) any contributions which would have been payable by the person in question but for the fact that they are not payable by virtue of regulation 49 of the Contributions Regulations, or

(b) any contributions repayable or repaid to him under regulation 32 of those regulations as having been paid in excess of the amount prescribed in regulation 17 of those regulations (annual maximum)

shall be treated as having been paid and in the case of repaid contributions as not repaid.

Section 5 Revocations

The regulations specified in Schedule 2 to these regulations are hereby revoked.

Section 1

(1) In this Part of this Schedule—

“Class 1 contributions” means primary Class 1 contributions paid or treated as paid on so much of a person’s earnings as do not exceed the current upper earnings limit or the prescribed equivalent if he is paid otherwise than weekly;

“contracted-out contributions” means primary Class 1 contributions paid or treated as paid on so much of a person’s earnings in respect of any contracted-out employment as exceed the current lower earnings limit but do not exceed the current upper earnings limit or the prescribed equivalents if he is paid otherwise than weekly;

“the standard level” in relation to any year means that year’s lower earnings limit for primary Class 1 contributions multiplied by 50; and

each paragraph has effect subject to the provisions of all later paragraphs.

(2) Paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 below shall apply for the purposes specified in section 13(2) of the Act , or section 2(4) of the Pensions Act 2014 , and paragraph 5 below for the purposes of section 35 of the Social Security Pensions Act1975 (earner’s guaranteed minimum).

Section 2

(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (2) below, a person’s earnings fact or derived in respect of the year commencing on 6th April 1987, or any subsequent year, from—

(a) those of his earnings paid in that year upon which Class 1contributions have been paid or treated as paid in respect of that year, and

(b) earnings with which he has been credited in respect of that year,

shall be equal to the amount of those actual and credited earnings.

(2) Any earnings factor ascertained under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be rounded down to the nearest whole pound.

Section 3

Where a person’s earnings paid in the year commencing on 6th April1987, or in any subsequent year, are earnings upon which Class 1 contributions have been paid or treated as paid in respect of that year and are, or are to be, recorded as separate sums in the records of the Department of Social Security, the earnings factor derived from those earnings shall be equal to the aggregate of the amounts ascertained by rounding down each sum separately to the nearest whole pound.

Section 4

Where Class 1 contributions have been paid or treated as paid in respect of the year commencing on 6th April 1987, or any subsequent year, upon a person’s earnings paid in that year and, but for this paragraph, the ascertainment of any earnings factor of his in respect of such year by the application of paragraphs 2 or 3 above would have the effect that—

(a) his earnings factor derived from those earnings, or

(b) the aggregate of his earnings factors derived from those earnings, and any earnings credited in respect of the same year, together with any derived from Class 2 or Class 3 contributions paid or credited in that year

would fall short of—

the qualifying earnings factor, by an amount not exceeding £50, or

the standard level, by an amount not exceeding £50, or

one-half of the standard level, by an amount not exceeding £25,

the amount of that earnings factor as so ascertained shall, for the purpose of section 13(2)(a) of the Act, or section 2(4) of the Pensions Act 2014 be increased by the amount of the shortfall, and the amount resulting shall be rounded up to the nearest whole pound.

Section 5

(1) Subject to sub-paragraphs (2) and (3) below, a person’s earnings factor derived in respect of the year commencing on 6th April 1987, or any subsequent year, from those of his earnings in contracted-out employment upon which contracted-out contributions have been paid, or treated as paid, in respect of such year, shall be equal to the amount of those earnings.

(2) Any earnings factor ascertained under sub-paragraph (1) above shall be rounded down to the nearest whole pound.

(3) Where a person’s earnings paid in the year commencing on 6th April1987, or in any subsequent year, are earnings upon which contracted-out contributions have been paid or treated as paid in respect of that year and are, or are to be, recorded as separate sums in the records of the Department of Social Security, the earnings factor derived from those earnings shall be equal to the aggregate of the amounts ascertained by rounding down each sum separately to the nearest whole pound.

Section 8

Subject to the provisions of paragraph 9, the earnings factor derived from a person's Class 2 or Class 3 contributions, being in each case contributions actually paid or contributions paid or credited, in respect of any year shall be that year's lower earnings limit for Class 1 contributions multiplied by the number of the contributions from which the earnings factor is to be derived.

Section 9

Where any earnings factor ascertained by applying the rule contained in paragraph 8 above would not, but for this paragraph, be expressed as a whole number of pounds, it shall be so expressed by the rounding down of any fraction of a pound less than one-half and the rounding up of any other fraction of a pound.