NMWM10060 | Accommodation and accommodation offset: when is the employer regarded as being responsible for the provision of accommodation? Example 1: worker has a joint tenancy agreement

Example 1

A waiter is provided with a flat above the restaurant in which he works. His employer leases the whole building from a property company and sublets the flat to the worker who lives there with his wife. The worker and his wife have a joint tenancy agreement. His wife does not work for the same employer.

Comment

The employer would be regarded as being responsible for the provision of the accommodation as the employer is the worker’s landlord situation [1] (NMWM10040). It does not matter that the accommodation is being shared with another person nor that there is a joint tenancy agreement. However, multiple occupancy may be a factor when deciding if the accommodation is living accommodation (NMWM10100) and (NMWM10130).

However, if the tenancy had been solely in the wife’s name the employer would not be regarded as responsible for the provision of the accommodation to the worker unless the situation at [2] (NMWM10040) also applied.