Clause 2 - Statutory paternity pay
Employment Bill
10:30 am
Mr Alan Johnson (Minister of State (Employment and the Regions), Department of Trade and Industry; Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle, Labour)
Good morning, Mr. Benton. Clause 2 relates to a part of the Bill that is not concerned with an employer's right to recover statutory paternity pay—an issue to which we will come when we discuss clause 7. I refer the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr. Prisk) to that clause in respect of his previous question about adjustment of the recoverable element of 92 per cent. He will see that that provision is written into the Bill, so we would not be able to make such an adjustment. His question was right, but he asked it of the wrong clause.
Clause 2 deals with specific occasions when an employer's liability to pay statutory paternity pay is transferred to the Inland Revenue. We intend to provide for that in two circumstances: first, when an
employer becomes bankrupt or insolvent; secondly, when he has failed to pay statutory paternity pay.