Where a client was partly incapacitated for work during the currency of the 1971 Act, S46 of that Act applies.
S46(2) provides that the amount payable to the client is:
- The lesser of:
- the prescribed amount in respect of that period, as per the table at 30.4.9
- AWE less the amount the client is able to earn in suitable employment or business.
OR
- The difference between:
- what his/her entitlement would be under S45 if he/she was totally incapacitated (but ignoring the S45 provisions re: superannuation), and
- the amount he/she is able to earn in suitable employment or business,
- whichever is the greater.
'able to earn in suitable employment or business'
The phrase 'able to earn' etc. used by the 1971 Act is essentially the same as the quantity 'AE' defined and used by the SRCA for the purposes of S19 of that Act.
Delegates should also note, that in common with S19(4) of the SRCA, S46(4A) of the 1971 Act discusses matters which the decision maker must 'have regard to' in deciding how much the client is able to earn in suitable employment. In fact, these subsections are counterparts and virtually identical.
Delegates should therefore follow the guidance at chapter 32 in relation to AE, when establishing this value for the purposes of the 1971 Act also.