Citation, commencement and interpretation

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Statutory Paternity Pay and Statutory Adoption Pay (National Health Service Employees) Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on 8th December 2002.

(2) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;

“the 1977 Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977( 5 );

“the 1978 Act” means the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978( 6 );

“the 1990 Act” means the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990( 7 );

“the 2002 Act” means the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002( 8 );

“Health Authority” means, in relation to Wales, a Health Authority established under section 8 of the 1977 Act and in relation to Scotland means a Health Board established under section 2 of the 1978 Act;

“Primary Care Trust” means a Primary Care Trust established under section 16A of the 1977 Act;

“statutory adoption pay period” means the period prescribed under section 171ZN(2) of the Act as the period in respect of which statutory adoption pay is payable to a person;

“statutory paternity pay period” means the period determined in accordance with section 171ZE(2) of the Act as the period in respect of which statutory paternity pay is payable to a person;

“Strategic Health Authority” means a Strategic Health Authority established under section 8 of the 1977 Act.

Treatment of more than one contract of employment as one contract

2. Where, in consequence of the establishment of one or more National Health Service Trusts under section 5 of the 1990 Act or section 12A of the 1978 Act, a person’s contract of employment is treated by a scheme under section 6 of the 1990 Act or section 12B of the 1978 Act( 9 ) as divided so as to constitute two or more contracts, or where an order under paragraph 23(1) of Schedule 5A to the 1977 Act( 10 ) provides that a person’s contract is so divided, he may elect for all those contracts to be treated as one contract for the purposes of Parts 12ZA and 12ZB of the Act.

Notification of election

3. A person who makes an election under regulation 2 above shall give written notification of that election to each of his employers under the two or more contracts of employment mentioned in that regulation at least 28 days before the beginning of the statutory paternity pay period or adoption 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 above 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 his 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 his employment with each of those employers commenced, and

(c) details of his 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 Parts 12ZA and 12ZB of the Act( 11 ).

Treatment of two or more employers as one

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

(a) in the case of a person whose contract of employment is treated by a scheme under section 6 of the 1990 Act or section 12B of the 1978 Act as divided—

(i) the Health Authority or Primary Care Trust from which the person was transferred in a case where any one of the contracts of employment is with that Health Authority or Primary Care Trust; or

(ii) the first NHS trust to which a contract of employment was transferred in a case where none of the contracts of employment is with the Health Authority or Primary Care Trust; or

(b) in the case of a person whose contract of employment is divided as provided by an order under paragraph 23(1) of Schedule 5A to the 1977 Act( 12 )—

(i) the Strategic Health Authority, NHS trust or Primary Care Trust from which the person was transferred, in a case where any one of the contracts of employment is with that body; or

(ii) the first Primary Care Trust to which a contract of employment was transferred in a case where none of the contracts of employment is with the body from which he was transferred.

Time for which an election is to have effect

6. An election made under regulation 2 shall lapse at the end of the statutory paternity pay period or, as the case may be, the adoption pay period.