NIM08070 - Earnings Periods: No obvious regular pay interval: underlying regularity

Regulation 7(1)(b) of the Social Security (Contributions) Regulations 2001 ) (SSCR 2001) (SI 2001 No 1004)

If there is no obvious regular pay interval but the arrangements are that the employer normally pays the employee once in each of a succession of periods consisting of the same number of days, weeks or months, treat the payments as made at regular intervals.

Example 1

Some employees get their monthly pay at other than exactly monthly intervals e.g. on the last Friday in the calendar month, or the first Friday in the following calendar month. The earnings period is the tax month. Occasionally, two such pay days fall within the same tax month but the employer calculates NICs separately on each month’s pay. Sometimes the pay is for either four weeks or five weeks according to the interval since the last pay day. Treat the payments as monthly.

Example 2

If a teacher is paid once in each of three terms in each year, the earnings period is four months and the employer calculates a four monthly NIC on each term’s pay.