Section 16 — Employment Tribunals Act 1996: Power to provide for recoupment of benefits.

Power to provide for recoupment of benefits. 16 1 This section applies to payments which are the subject of proceedings before employment tribunals and which are—

a payments of wages or compensation for loss of wages, b payments by employers to employees under sections 146 to 151, sections 168 to 173 or section 192 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, c payments by employers to employees under—

i Part III, V, VI or VII, ii section 93, or iii Part X, of the Employment Rights Act 1996, ... d payments by employers to employees of a nature similar to, or for a purpose corresponding to the purpose of, payments within paragraph (b) or (c), .., da payments under section 27BP(1) of, or paragraph 22(1) of Schedule A1 to, the Employment Rights Act 1996, e payments by employers to employees under regulation 5, 6 or 9 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 (Blacklists) Regulations 2010, or f payments by NHS employers to applicants under regulation 6 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (NHS Recruitment – Protected Disclosure) Regulations 2018 (remedies),

and to payments of remuneration under a protective award under section 189 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

2 The Secretary of State may by regulations make with respect to payments to which this section applies provision for any or all of the purposes specified in subsection (3).

3 The purposes referred to in subsection (2) are—

a enabling the Secretary of State to recover from an employer, by way of total or partial recoupment of universal credit, jobseeker’s allowance , income support or income-related employment and support allowance —

i a sum not exceeding the amount of the prescribed element of the monetary award, or ii in the case of a protective award, the amount of the remuneration, b requiring or authorising an employment tribunal to order the payment of such a sum, by way of total or partial recoupment of universal credit, jobseeker's allowance, income support or income-related employment and support allowance , to the Secretary of State instead of to an employee, and c requiring an employment tribunal to order the payment to an employee of only the excess of the prescribed element of the monetary award over the amount of any universal credit, jobseeker’s allowance , income support or income-related employment and support allowance shown to the tribunal to have been paid to the employee and enabling the Secretary of State to recover from the employer, by way of total or partial recoupment of the benefit, a sum not exceeding that amount.

4 Regulations under this section may be framed—

a so as to apply to all payments to which this section applies or to one or more classes of those payments, and b so as to apply to all or any of the benefits mentioned in subsection (3).

5 Regulations under this section may—

a confer powers and impose duties on employment tribunals or adjudication officers or other persons, b impose on an employer to whom a monetary award or protective award relates a duty—

i to furnish particulars connected with the award, and ii to suspend payments in pursuance of the award during any period prescribed by the regulations, c provide for an employer who pays a sum to the Secretary of State in pursuance of this section to be relieved from any liability to pay the sum to another person, cc provide for the determination by the Secretary of State of any issue arising as to the total or partial recoupment in pursuance of the regulations of universal credit, a jobseeker’s allowance, unemployment benefit , income support or income-related employment and support allowance , d confer on an employee a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against any decision of the Secretary of State on any such issue, and e provide for the proof in proceedings before employment tribunals (whether by certificate or in any other manner) of any amount of universal credit, jobseeker’s allowance , income support or income-related employment and support allowance paid to an employee.

6 Regulations under this section may make different provision for different cases.

7 In the application of this section to payments which are the subject of proceedings under Chapter 2, 3 or 4 of Part 2A of the Employment Rights Act 1996, or Chapter 6 of Part 2A of that Act so far as relating to Chapter 2 of that Part, and which are compensation for loss of wages (see subsection (1)(a))—

a references to an employer are to be read as if they were references to an employer within the meaning of the relevant Chapter of that Part;

b references to an employee are to be read as if they were references to a worker within the meaning of the relevant Chapter of that Part.

8 In the application of this section to payments which are the subject of proceedings under Part 1, 2 or 3 of Schedule A1 to the Employment Rights Act 1996, or Chapter 6 of Part 2A of that Act so far as relating to Part 1 of that Schedule, and which are compensation for loss of wages (see subsection (1)(a))—

a references to an employer are to be read as if they were references to a hirer or (as the case may be) a work-finding agency within the meaning of the relevant Part of that Schedule;

b references to an employee are to be read as if they were references to an agency worker within the meaning of Part 2A of that Act.

9 In the application of this section to payments under Part 5 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (see subsection (1)(c)(i)) by virtue of section 47H of that Act—

a references to an employer are to be read as if they were references to an employer within the meaning of that section;

b references to an employee are to be read as if they were references to a worker within the meaning of that section.

10 In the application of this section to payments under Part 5 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (see subsection (1)(c)(i)) by virtue of section 47I of that Act—

a references to an employer are to be read as if they were references to a relevant person within the meaning of that section;

b references to an employee are to be read as if they were references to an agency worker within the meaning of Part 2A of that Act.

11 In the application of this section to payments under section 27BP(1) of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (see subsection (1)(da))—

a references to an employer are to be read as if they were references to an employer within the meaning of Chapter 4 of Part 2A of that Act;

b references to an employee are to be read as if they were references to a worker within the meaning of that Chapter.

12 In the application of this section to payments under paragraph 22(1) of Schedule A1 to the Employment Rights Act 1996 (see subsection (1)(da))—

a references to an employer are to be read as if they were references to a work-finding agency within the meaning of Part 2A of that Act;

b references to an employee are to be read as if they were references to an agency worker within the meaning of that Part.