TCTM02461 | Entitlement: WTC entitlement - Qualifying remunerative work: Laid off with/without pay

Being laid off means that, an employer does not provide the employee with work. This may be temporary or permanent and sometimes the employer can’t tell the employee how long they may be without work.

Where a person is temporarily laid off from work and

• for a temporary period there is no work available for them to do for their employer, and

• they are still under a contract of service which has not been terminated, and

• they clearly expect to return to employment with the same employer.

they are considered as normally engaged in remunerative work for up to 4 weeks from the date they were temporarily laid off.

Where a person has been temporarily laid off from work and

• they have been laid off for more than 4 weeks, or

• their employer tells them that they have been laid off until further notice

they are treated as they have finished work on the date that they found out they would be laid off indefinitely (subject to the 4 week run on).

Example

A claimant is laid off on 8th January. Her employer tells her that she can expect to go back to work on 1st February. Because she has been laid off for less that 4 weeks she is treated as being in remunerative work.

On 26th January, her employer tells her that they do not know if she will be able to go back to work at all. Because she has been laid off for more that 4 weeks and her employer does not know when she will be able to return to work, she is treated as if she finished work on 26th January. The 4 weeks run on would apply from 26th January.