C7

Prospective affecting provision: s. 4F inserted by Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026 (7/2026), s. 6, not commenced as of date of revision.

Application to Minister for employer to be deemed insolvent in relation to period before coming into operation of Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026

4F. (1) An employee or a person acting on an employee’s behalf may apply to the Minister in the prescribed form, accompanied by such information as the employee considers to be relevant to the application, for the employer to be deemed insolvent under this section.

(2) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), the Minister shall deem an employer to be insolvent under this section for the purposes of this Act where—

(a) the application under subsection (1) is made—

(i) no later than 2 years from the applicable date, or

(ii) where the Minister is satisfied that, due to exceptional circumstances outside the control of the employee, it was not possible for the employee to make such an application within the period referred to in subparagraph (i), no later than 2 years from the end of that period,

and

(b) the Minister, having regard to the matters referred to in subsection (3), is satisfied that the employer—

(i) in the case of an employer who is a natural person, ceased acting as an employer, in relation to the employee or any other person, during the applicable period and did not, after such cessation, resume acting as an employer, or

(ii) in the case of an employer who is not a natural person, ceased trading during the applicable period and did not, after such cessation, resume trading.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), the matters to which the Minister shall have regard are—

(a) all relevant information provided to the Minister under subsection (1),

(b) the taxpayer information of the employer, and

(c) where the employer is not a natural person, all information on the register (within the meaning of section 2 of the Companies Act 2014) that relates to the employer.

(4) The Minister shall notify the employee by whom, or on whose behalf, the application under subsection (1) was made—

(a) where the employer is deemed insolvent under this section—

(i) that the employer is deemed insolvent under this section, and

(ii) of the date on which the Minister, having considered the matters referred to in subsection (3), considers the employer to have become insolvent under this section,

or

(b) where the employer is not deemed insolvent under this section, of that fact.

(5) Where an employer is deemed insolvent under this section, that shall not influence any other consideration of, or process regarding, whether or not the employer is insolvent for any other purpose.

(6) Where the Minister is satisfied that an application under subsection (1) is made—

(a) in relation to an employer that is taken to be, or to have become, insolvent in the circumstances referred to in paragraphs (a) to (g) or (i) of section 1(3) on or before the date on which the application under subsection (1) is made, or

(b) by or on behalf of an employee to whom this Act does not apply, the Minister—

(i) shall notify the employee of that fact, and

(ii) shall not take any action in relation to the application under this section.

(7) Where the Minister is satisfied that an application under subsection (1) is made in respect of a debt to which section 6(2), as it stood on the relevant date (within the meaning of section 6), did not apply, the Minister shall not take any action under this section in relation to the application, insofar as it relates to that debt.

(8) In this section—

"applicable period" means the period beginning on the 22nd day of October 1983 and ending on the day before the applicable date;

"applicable date" means the day on which section 6 of the Protection of Employees (Employers’ Insolvency) (Amendment) Act 2026, insofar as it relates to this section, or any provision of this section, comes into operation.