PAYE64035 - Employment maintenance: maintain employment: purpose and use of form P91

The purpose of form P91 is to establish an individual’s employment history when

  • The individual has requested his current year coding to be review
    And
  • You have been unable to obtain this information from the individual either from telephone call or letter

The P91 should then be issued using Office Clerical Assistant if

  • You are unsure what an individual has been doing since 6 April CY
    Or
  • There are gaps in employment of ten weeks or more

Where a form is issued for the purpose of restoring a cumulative code the case should not be put on BF. The CONTACT HISTORY screen should be updated to reflect issue of the form.

When the form is returned you need to make various checks in addition to recording any employment information.

Address

If the address on the form has been amended, use the EDIT INDIVIDUALS DETAILS screen to correct the address.

Pensions

Pass the papers to an appropriate officer who will take responsibility for further work on the form.

Date of Birth

Use the INDIVIDUAL SUMMARY screen to enter the date of birth if not already held or if incorrect.

Contact Details

If a contact number is shown use the INDIVIDUAL SUMMARY screen to add or update the contact number.

Other Employments

When considering restoring a cumulative code you must not take too narrow a view of the information on the form P91. Wherever possible accept the information provided avoiding further unnecessary enquiries. Where possible give the individual the benefit of the doubt.

Staff need to be aware that

  • Individuals do not have to give an explanation of what they were doing if they were not working. Any given explanation should be accepted
  • Where the ‘Not Earning’ box is ticked you should not check for a possible Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claim unless you have evidence to suggest otherwise
  • If the individual has made an attempt to complete the form P91 you can restore a cumulative code providing any remaining unexplained gap does not exceed 10 consecutive weeks
  • If the remaining gap in employment exceeds 10 consecutive weeks you should contact the individual for the missing information

The form P91 can be destroyed when you have

  • Completed all enquiries
  • Entered all the information needed on the individual’s employment history record
  • Restored a cumulative code
    Or
  • Left on a Wk1 / Mth1 basis to review later

For more information see action guide tax80003.