Statutory Residence Test - HM Revenue & Customs

The statutory residence test
Example 12
Sam has never been resident in the UK. On 3 March 2014, he starts a twoyear
contract to work on a North Sea Oil platform in UK waters. Sam is
contracted to work two weeks off-shore, working 12 hours a day over 14 days,
followed by two weeks onshore field break.
Unfortunately, half-way through his shift on 9 April 2014, Sam has an accident
at work and is medically unfit to work up to 30 April 2014. The doctor certifies
that he is fit enough to return to work from 1 May 2014.
From 10 April to 30 April 2014 (21 days), when Sam was unfit to work, there is
a period of 14 days (14 – 27 April) which were scheduled non-working days
when Sam was on his onshore field break.
For the purpose of calculating whether he meets the third automatic UK test,
Sam considers whether he worked sufficient hours in the UK. Usually, his
non-working days cannot be deducted from the 365-day period over which his
average weekly hours are calculated as they do not meet the rules about
embedded non-working days.
However, when calculating whether Sam works sufficient hours in the UK over
a 365-day period, the 14 non-working days between 14 and 27 April 2014 can
be subtracted from the 365-day period when calculating the ‘reference period’
at Step 3 of the calculation.
This is because the 14 non-working days are embedded within a period
- where Sam was unfit to work, from 10-30 April 2014
and
- there were at least three consecutive days of sick leave before the nonworking
period
and
- there were at least three consecutive days of sick leave after the nonworking
period.
For the purpose of this example we will look at the 365-day period starting on
3 March 2014, the date Sam started work in the UK.
Step 1: there are no disregarded days on which Sam worked more than three
hours overseas
Step 2: net UK hours (continues on next page)
RDR3 26