Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1993

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Employment contributions.

[1981, s. 10(1); 1982, s. 5(1); 1989, s. 8(1); 1991, s. 40(4); 1993, s. 16(1)]

10.—(1) (a) Employment contributions shall be paid by employed contributors and their employers in accordance with this section.

(b) Subject to paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of this subsection and to regulations under section 11, where in any contribution year a payment is made to or for the benefit of an employed contributor in respect of reckonable earnings of that employed contributor, there shall be payable an employment contribution comprising—

(i) a contribution by the employed contributor at the rate of 5.5 per cent., and

(ii) a contribution by his employer at the rate of 12.2 per cent.,

of the amount of the reckonable earnings to which such payment relates.

(c) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor's reckonable earnings have amounted to the sum of £21,300 and contributions under paragraph (b) (ii) have been paid in respect of those reckonable earnings, no further such contribution shall be payable in respect of any reckonable earnings of that employed contributor by his employer in that contribution year.

(d) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor's reckonable earnings have amounted to the sum of £20,000 and contributions under paragraph (b) (i) have been paid in respect of those reckonable earnings, no further such contribution shall be payable in respect of any reckonable earnings of that employed contributor by the employed contributor in that contribution year.

(e) Where in a particular contribution year an employed contributor is employed by two or more employers concurrently (as defined in regulations under section 13), the provisions of paragraph (c) shall, in relation to contributions mentioned in paragraph (b) (ii), apply to the reckonable earnings from each of the employments separately.

[1981, s. 10(2); 1989, s. 8(1)]

(2) (a) The Minister may by regulations vary the sums specified in paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) and such variation shall take effect from the beginning of the contribution year following that in which the regulations are made.

(b) When making regulations under this subsection to vary the sum specified in subsection (1)(d) the Minister shall take into account any changes in the average earnings of workers in the transportable goods industries so recorded by the Central Statistics Office since the date by reference to which the sum specified in subsection (1)(d) was last determined.

[1981, s. 10(3)]

(3) The employer shall, as respects any employment contribution, be liable in the first instance to pay both the employer's contribution comprised therein and also, on behalf of and to the exclusion of the employed contributor, the contribution comprised therein payable by such contributor.

[1981, s. 10(4)]

(4) An employer shall be entitled, subject to and in accordance with regulations, to recover from an employed contributor the amount of any contribution paid or to be paid by him on behalf of that contributor and, notwithstanding anything in any enactment, regulations for the purposes of this subsection may authorise recovery by deductions from the employed contributor's remuneration, but any such regulations shall provide that—

(a) where the employed contributor does not receive any pecuniary remuneration either from the employer or from any other person, the employer shall not be entitled to recover the amount of any such contribution from him, and

(b) where the employed contributor receives any pecuniary remuneration from the employer, the employer shall not be entitled to recover any such contribution otherwise than by deductions.

[1981, s. 10(5)]

(5) Notwithstanding any contract to the contrary, an employer shall not be entitled to deduct from the remuneration of a person employed by him, or otherwise to recover from such a person, the employer's contribution in respect of that person.

[1981, s. 10(6)]

(6) Any sum deducted by an employer from remuneration under regulations for the purposes of this section shall be deemed to have been entrusted to him for the purpose of paying the contribution in respect of which it was deducted.

[1990, s. 9]

(7) (a) Where but for this subsection, an employment contribution would be payable by and in respect of an employed contributor at the rates specified in subsection (1)(b), the employed contributor shall, subject to regulations, be exempted from the employment contribution payable under subsection (1)(b)(i) where his weekly reckonable earnings are below a prescribed amount.

(b) Regulations under paragraph (a) may in particular and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing specify—

(i) the manner in which the amounts of weekly reckonable earnings are to be calculated for the purposes of that paragraph,

(ii) the manner in which the provisions of that paragraph are to be applied in the case of an employed contributor who is employed by two or more employers concurrently, and

(iii) the manner in which the provisions of that paragraph are to be applied in the case of an employed contributor remunerated other than on a weekly basis.

[1993, s. 18]

(8) An employer who, during the period commencing on the 19th day of October, 1992, and ending on the 19th day of September, 1993, employed additional employees under and by virtue of the scheme administered by the Department of Social Welfare known as the Employers' Pay-Related Social Insurance Exemption Scheme, shall not, during the period commencing on the 6th day of April, 1993, and ending on the 5th day of April, 1995, be liable to pay in respect of additional employees who constitute a net increase in the employer's workforce under the scheme above that applying on the 9th day of September, 1992, all or any of the following, namely—

(a) the contribution specified in section 10 (1)(b)(ii) of this Act;

(b) the health contribution payable by an employer under section 5 (1)(b) of the Health Contributions Act, 1979 ;

(c) the employment and training levy payable by an employer under section 16 (c) of the Youth Employment Agency Act, 1981 (as extended by section 25 of the Labour Services Act, 1987 ).