The Continuity of Employment Test
08 August 2016
The Statutory Paternity Pay, Statutory Adoption Pay and Statutory Shared Parental Pay (Amendment) Regulations 2015, which came into force on 1 February 2016, alter the general regulations concerning the continuity of employment test that is a condition of entitlement to these statutory payments.
Previously, if the employee’s employment start date falls in the 26th week before the end of the Qualifying Week (in birth cases) or Matching Week (in adoption cases), so that the employee has a total of 25 complete weeks of continuous service, the employee would not be entitled to the statutory payment. This differed from the Statutory Maternity Pay legislation.
The regulatory change means that, in this particular situation only, the first partial week is now rounded up, as it is in the maternity rules, so that the employee has exactly 26 weeks’ service and passes the Continuity of Employment Test.
Geographical extent - this regulatory change applies to England, Scotland and Wales.