Social Wefare

trixie_belle12 wrote: »

I will. Out of curiosity may I ask where your source of information is from?

Disqualifications: General
A person may be disqualified from receipt of JA in certain circumstances. Any period during which a person is disqualified is not counted as part of the continuous period of unemployment.

Full Disqualification
Refusal of Employment

If a person refuses an offer of suitable employment, he/she disqualified for receiving JA.

A person who would otherwise be entitled to payment may be disqualified for the full period in the following circumstances:

Inmate of an Institution
Employment in a Community Employment Scheme
A student (except a mature student)
Absent from the State
Imprisonment
Involvement in a trade dispute
Disqualification 9 weeks
A person who would otherwise be entitled to payment may be disqualified for receiving JA for such period as may be determined by a Deciding Officer, but in any case not exceeding 9 weeks, for any of the following reasons:

Loss of employment because of wilful misconduct
Leaving employment voluntarily without just cause
Failure or neglect to avail of any reasonable opportunity of obtaining suitable employment
Lost Employment through his/her own Misconduct
A disqualification of up to 9 weeks may be imposed if the Deciding Officer is satisfied from the evidence before him/her that the reason the person lost his/her employment was due to his/her own misconduct. The period of disqualification may only be imposed from date that the person lost his/her employment.

(See separate guideline REVISED DECISIONS.)

Examples of misconduct that may lead to disqualification could include:

unexplained absence from work/bad time-keeping without a valid reason
stealing from place of work
wilfully disruptive/unreasonable behaviour at work
Occasionally, an employer may give a person the option of resigning rather than being dismissed for misconduct. Where a disqualification is considered appropriate in such a case, the ground of disqualification is "misconduct" rather than "leaving the job voluntarily".

Voluntarily Left Employment
A person may be disqualified for receiving JA for up to 9 weeks from date of leaving employment if s/he has left the employment voluntarily and without just cause.

'Good cause' is not defined and it is for the Deciding Officer to apply a common sense meaning to the expression in
considering the case. Factors that may be taken into account could include the circumstances surrounding any changes in working conditions, the financial situation of the firm, whether leaving the employment amounted to constructive dismissal (i.e. the person left the employment following harassment/abuse from the employer).

Failure to Avail of Opportunity of Obtaining Suitable Employment
If a person has failed or neglected to avail of any reasonable opportunity of obtaining suitable employment, he/she may be disqualified from receiving JA for up to 9 weeks.

In the case of Jobseeker's Allowance the requirement to be genuinely seeking employment is limited to employment which is suitable having regard to the age, sex, physique, education, normal occupation, place of residence, rate of pay offered and the family circumstances of the claimant. The entitlement to payment is determined by the Deciding Officer in light of the facts and circumstances of each particular case. In determining what constitutes suitable employment, regard should be had to the criteria and circumstances outlined in the section of these guidelines dealing with the availability for and genuinely seeking work conditions.

Refusal or Failure to avail of Training provided or approved by FÁS - Penalty Rates
The Social Welfare Act 2010 provides for the reduction in payment where a person:

refuses an appropriate offer of training by an officer of this Department;
refused, or declines to avail of, an offer of training from FÁS;
declines an intervention under the Employment Action Plan;
does not attend EAP meetings with a FÁS officer under the EAP;
drops out of the EAP process
Community Employment Schemes are not considered to be FÁS training opportunities.

Effective Date of Disqualification
Where any of the above disqualifications is imposed, the period must be calculated with reference to the day on which the loss or leaving of employment, refusal, failure, neglect or redundancy (as the case may be) occurred.