Payment date for wages when payslip date and payment date are significantly different.

Hi all,

I have a client who moved from HB to UC on 7.2.18.

Their final payslip for their former employer was dated 26.1.18 (when tenant was a HB claimant).

The final payslip was not paid to the client however until 2.3.18 however (when tenant was a UC claimant) due to the employer having financial issues.

So far HB and UC have both included the clients final wage when calculating her entitlement.

I know that this is incorrect but I am not sure who has made an error!

Does the wage count as income before 7.2.18 because the payslip is dated 26.1.18? or

Does the wage count as income after 7.2.18 because the wage didn’t credit the clients account until 2.3.18?

Is the date the earned income is included for benefits purpsoes the 26.1.18 (payslip date) or 2.3.18 (date wage was paid)?

Hope someone can help!

Many thanks,

Tom

It is the date payment is received that counts - see reg. 54 UC Regs.

Whilst reg. 61 provides that the default position is that earnings figures will be taken from RTI and the information provided by HMRC, it also provides that need not be the case where there is reason to believe the information to be wrong/inaccurate. The information HMRC have will be whatever the employer has provided.

The claimant’s bank statements should be sufficient evidence to allow the earnings to be included in the assessment period they were actually paid.

If memory serves a tribunal judge (or even UT judge?) was shocked when he looked into the reg about UC being calculated as when money was received rather than earned. He disallowed the appeal but made commentary about it sort of being unfair.

It can cut both ways.

We won at a UC earnings appeal on Wednesday where this was precisely the issue. Client’s assessment period runs from the 28th of the month to the 27th of the next. She changed jobs during the assessment period before Xmas with the consequence (so far as UC were concerned) that two lots of earnings fell to be taken into account in the assessment period 28/12/2016 - 27/1/2017. And those two payments were sufficient to knock her out of entitlement for that month.

DWP and PO’s position was that she is paid 4 weekly rather than monthly, so there will be an assessment period where she is paid twice with a consequent reduced entitlement, but this evens out over the course of the year. However, in this case her Xmas wage slip was dated the 28th with the result that this was the RTI/HMRC information that UC had - but in fact, she had been paid early for Xmas by the employer - on the 22nd.

Reg. 54 is clear - it is the earnings received in the assessment period that count - and whilst reg. 61 says that it is the RTI/HMRC information that is used by default, it also says it isn’t used where there is evidence that the information is wrong. In our case, winning the appeal resulted in an overpayment of £600 in the November - December assessment period (DWP made a song and dance about this as a reason why the tribunal should dismiss the appeal) but an underpayment of £1400 in the December - January period.

Thanks all-this is really helpful! Know where I am now with this !

Struggling with RTI issues and despite evidence (wageslips) provided to the DWP they haven’t made an MR decision so can’t progress to appeal. £400 underpaid to date due to incorrect RTI and DWP’s refusal to deal with the matter…......