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New Zealand law explained for everyone

Social Security Act 2018

Enforcement: sanctions and offences - Sanctions for breach of obligations other than young person or young parent obligations - How number of failures is counted

241: Meaning of continuous payment

You could also call this:

“What counts as getting benefits without stopping”

When you receive different types of main benefits, they might not count as one continuous payment period. This happens if one of the benefits is a youth payment or young parent payment, and the other benefits are things like sole parent support, supported living payment, jobseeker support, or emergency benefit.

If you’re a young person getting a youth payment or young parent payment, you still need to follow the rules. If you don’t follow the rules without a good reason, you might face consequences. These consequences can apply even if you switch between youth payment and young parent payment.

When figuring out if your benefit has been paid without stopping, the government won’t count short breaks. If your benefit was stopped because you got a job that lasted less than 10 working days, they’ll ignore that break.

A working day means any day you were supposed to work at that job.

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240: Failures that can be counted, or

“Understanding how the government keeps track of times you don't follow benefit rules”

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242: Failures that cannot be counted, or

“Some mistakes don't count when keeping track of rule-breaking”

Part 5 Enforcement: sanctions and offences
Sanctions for breach of obligations other than young person or young parent obligations: How number of failures is counted

241Meaning of continuous payment

  1. For the purposes of section 240(1), 2 or more different main benefits paid to a beneficiary do not give rise to a period of continuous payment in respect of the beneficiary of those 2 or more different main benefits if—

  2. one of those 2 or more different main benefits is a youth payment or a young parent payment; and
    1. the other of, or (as the case may be) the rest of, those 2 or more different main benefits is 1 or more or all of sole parent support, supported living payment, jobseeker support, and emergency benefit.

      1. Subsection (1) does not affect section 240(1) applying (under section 287) with all necessary modifications to the imposition of sanctions under subpart 3 in respect of failures that—

      2. are failures by a young person who is receiving a youth payment or a young parent payment; and
        1. are failures, without good and sufficient reason, to comply with an obligation placed on the young person by section 162 or 164; and
          1. occur during a period of continuous payment in respect of the young person of—
            1. the same benefit (that is, a youth payment or a young parent payment); or
              1. 2 or more different benefits (that is a youth payment and a young parent payment, in whatever sequence paid).

              2. In determining whether a main benefit has been continuously paid, MSD must disregard any period during which the benefit was cancelled or suspended because the beneficiary commenced in employment that continued for less than 10 working days.

              3. In subsection (3), working day means a day on which a person was required to work in the employment in question.

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