Defence Citation and commencement 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Reserve Forces (Payments to Employers and Partners) Regulations 2014 and come into force on 1st October 2014. Interpretation 2 1 In these Regulations— “adjudication officer” means a person appointed by, or in accordance with, directions of the Secretary of State for Defence or the Defence Council to determine claims under these Regulations; “C” means, where the reservist’s contract of employment with the employer fixes the number of hours of employment in a week and that number is less than 35, that number of hours; “employee” means a person who is employed in a relevant undertaking under a relevant contract of employment; “employer” means a person by whom the reservist is employed in a relevant undertaking under a relevant contract of employment; “partner” means a person with whom the reservist is carrying on business in partnership in a relevant undertaking; “public authority” means— a public authority listed in Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 ; or a Scottish public authority listed in Schedule 1 to the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 ; “relevant contract of employment” means— a contract of service, or a contract of apprenticeship, but does not include a zero hours contract; “relevant date” means a date on or after these Regulations come into force and which is the earlier of the date on which the reservist reports for relevant service and the date on which the reservist is accepted into relevant service, but see regulation 12; “relevant period” means a continuous period beginning with the relevant date and ending with the earlier of the date of the termination of the relevant service of the reservist and— in a case falling within regulation 3, the date of termination of the reservist’s employment with the employer; in a case falling within regulation 4, the date on which the reservist ceases to carry on business in partnership with the partner; “relevant service” means permanent service under Part 4 of the 1996 Act or under a call-out order but does not include any period in which the reservist is serving a term of imprisonment or detention under the sentence of the Court Martial or a court of law in the British Islands or any British overseas territory; “relevant undertaking” means an undertaking which— is not a public authority; and meets the qualifying conditions in Schedule 1; “reservist” means a person called out for relevant service; “the 1996 Act” means the Reserve Forces Act 1996; “undertaking” has the meaning given in section 1161(1) of the Companies Act 2006 ; “week” means a week ending with Saturday; “zero hours contract” means a contract of employment under which— the undertaking to do or perform work is an undertaking to do so conditionally on the employer making work available to the reservist; and there is no certainty that any such work will be made available to the reservist. 2 Where a person is performing relevant service and the date on which that person is entitled to be released or discharged has been postponed under section 53(3), (7) or (11), 55(3), (7) or (11), 57(3) or (7) or 61 (as the case may be) of the 1996 Act, the date of the termination of relevant service means the date on which the reservist actually ceases the relevant service after the period of extension, and not the date on which the reservist would otherwise have been entitled to be released or discharged from the service. Employer’s payment 3 1 Subject to fulfilment to an adjudication officer’s satisfaction of the requirement to provide information or documentation under regulation 7, an employer is entitled to claim an employer’s payment in respect of such part of the relevant period as the reservist is an employee of the employer. 2 The amount of the employer’s payment is the total of the amounts payable to the employer for calendar months in the relevant period, determined in accordance with paragraphs (3) to (5). 3 For each calendar month part or all of which falls within the relevant period, the amount of the employer’s payment is calculated in accordance with the formula in paragraph (4). 4 The formula is— £ X × A B where— “A” is the number of days in the calendar month which fall within the relevant period; “B” is the number of days in the calendar month; and “£X” is— where situation 1 or 3 applies on the first day of the calendar month, £500; where situation 2 applies on the first day of the calendar month, a proportion of £500 which is the same proportion of that amount as C is of 35; where situation 4 applies on the first day of the calendar month, a proportion of £500 which is the same proportion of that amount as the number under paragraph (5)(d)(ii) is of 35. 5 For the purposes of this regulation— a situation 1 applies where the reservist’s contract of employment with the employer fixes the number of hours of employment in a week and that number is 35 or more; b situation 2 applies where the reservist’s contract of employment with the employer fixes the number of hours of employment in a week and that number is less than 35; c situation 3 applies where— i the reservist’s contract of employment with the employer does not fix the number of hours of employment in a week but does guarantee a minimum number of hours; and ii the number of hours that the adjudication officer is satisfied that the reservist is likely to have been required under that contract to work for the undertaking each week in the calendar month is 35 or more; d situation 4 applies where— i the reservist’s contract of employment with the employer does not fix the number of hours of employment in a week but does guarantee a minimum number of hours; and ii the number of hours that the adjudication officer is satisfied that the reservist is likely to have been required under that contract to work for the undertaking each week in the calendar month is less than 35. 6 The employer’s payment is paid in monthly instalments paid monthly in arrears to the employer on the last working day of every calendar month. Partner’s payment 4 1 Subject to fulfilment to an adjudication officer’s satisfaction of the requirement to provide information or documentation under regulation 7, a partner is entitled to claim a partner’s payment in respect of such part of the relevant period as the reservist is carrying on business in partnership with the partner, but see paragraph (7). 2 The amount of the partner’s payment is the total of the amounts payable to the partner for calendar months in the relevant period, determined in accordance with paragraphs (3) to (5). 3 For each calendar month part or all of which falls within the relevant period, the amount of the partner’s payment is calculated in accordance with the formula in paragraph (4). 4 The formula is— £ X × A B where— “A” is the number of days in the calendar month which fall within the relevant period; “B” is the number of days in the calendar month; and “£X” is— where situation 1 applies on the first day of the calendar month, £500; where situation 2 applies on the first day of the calendar month, a proportion of £500 which is the same proportion of that amount as the number under paragraph (5)(b) is of 35. 5 For the purposes of this regulation— a situation 1 applies where the number of hours that the adjudication officer is satisfied that the reservist is likely to have worked each week in the calendar month for the undertaking in which he or she is carrying on business in partnership with the partner is 35 or more; b situation 2 applies where the number of hours that the adjudication officer is satisfied that the reservist is likely to have worked each week in the calendar month for the undertaking in which he or she is carrying on business in partnership with the partner is less than 35. 6 The partner’s payment is paid in monthly instalments paid monthly in arrears to the partner on the last working day of every calendar month. 7 A partner is not entitled to claim a partner’s payment in respect of any part of a relevant period for which a payment has been made under this regulation to the partner or to another partner of the reservist. Time limits for making a claim 5 1 A claim under these Regulations may not be made before the relevant date. 2 A claim under these Regulations may not be made more than 4 weeks after the end of the relevant period, unless an adjudication officer agrees to an extended period. Person to whom claims must be made 6 A claim must be made to a person specified in Schedule 3 for determination by that person. Information and documentation to be provided in relation to claims 7 1 When making a claim under regulation 3 or 4, an employer or partner must provide the information specified in Schedule 2 to an adjudication officer. 2 The claimant must provide such other information or documentation in connection with a claim as an adjudication officer may at any time reasonably require. 3 A claimant who has provided information under this regulation must notify an adjudication officer of— a any inaccuracy in, or change to, that information, or b any event, which might materially affect the claim, no later than 14 days after the inaccuracy, change or event comes to the claimant’s attention. The provision of such information will entitle an adjudication officer to review the original determination in accordance with paragraph (1)(d) of regulation 10. Determination and payment of claims 8 1 An adjudication officer must consider and determine a claim promptly and in accordance with the relevant provisions of these Regulations. 2 As soon as reasonably practicable after making a determination, an adjudication officer must provide to the claimant a written notification of that determination containing a statement— a giving reasons for the determination; b showing how any payment has been calculated; c that the claimant may, if he or she is dissatisfied with the determination of his or her claim, appeal against the determination to a reserve forces appeal tribunal, and giving the address to which such an appeal should be sent. Rejection of claims for non-compliance with the Regulations 9 An adjudication officer may reject a claim if the claimant has failed without reasonable excuse to comply with— a any requirement under regulation 7 to provide information or documentation; b the time limit prescribed in regulation 5. Additional powers of adjudication officers 10 1 An adjudication officer may— a treat a requirement to provide information or documentation under regulation 7 as having been satisfied if the adjudication officer already has that information or documentation when the claimant makes the claim; b proceed to process a claim where information or documentation required under regulation 7 has not been provided in accordance with that regulation if the claimant undertakes to provide such information or documentation as soon as it becomes available; c make an interim payment pending the determination of a claim; d review a determination at any time until the beginning of the hearing by a reserve forces appeal tribunal of an appeal against that determination or the expiry of 6 years, whichever is the earlier; e following any review of a determination, set aside the determination and substitute a new determination. 2 If an adjudication officer proposes to exercise the power under paragraph (1)(d), the adjudication officer must provide written notice of his or her intention to do so to the claimant as soon as reasonably practicable. Withdrawal of a claim 11 A claimant may withdraw a claim, or any part of a claim, at any time by providing written notice of withdrawal to an adjudication officer. Transitional arrangements 12 In respect of a period of relevant service which begins before these Regulations come into force and continues after these Regulations come into force, for the purposes of these Regulations “relevant date” means the date on which these Regulations come into force. Julian Brazier Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Ministry of Defence 8th September 2014