Another JSA thread

LegacyUser

Im hoping you people can help me.

Im currently on OPFP, living with my parents.
My partner is working and living alone, paying his own rent, and paying maintenance for our child to me. we are in a relationship however not living together- the SW office knows this and have said that i am fully entitled unless we move in together, obviously.

I work 4 hours a week. sometimes more but thats my contracted hours and i very rarely get more.
he works 37 hours a week, soon to be reduced to 27. he comes out with roughly 500euro p/w now or 400 when his hours are reduced. thats very rough figures though tbh.

we want to move in together and do it all for ourselves re rent etc. I am currently looking for another job to make this possible but no such luck.

we are not entitled to FIS atm because he works too many hours and even when we may be entitled it wont be alot (playschool alone is forty p/w).

my question is would i be entitled to JSA?? i was told i wouldnt because my hours werent reduced as such (even though im not even on a three day week!). but surely if im only working one day a week and im looking for a better job then i should be entitled to JSA?
would my partners earnings be too high for me to be entitled?


i tried going to the CWO today to see about Supplementary Welfare Allowance and basically he said no chance of getting anything.

it just seems really unfair that we want to actually do things the right way and are actively looking for better jobs but cant.
Anyone know if im actually not entitled or was this a misunderstanding?

mrsbyrne

hopingyoucanhelp wrote: »

Im hoping you people can help me.

Im currently on OPFP, living with my parents.
My partner is working and living alone, paying his own rent, and paying maintenance for our child to me. we are in a relationship however not living together- the SW office knows this and have said that i am fully entitled unless we move in together, obviously.

I work 4 hours a week. sometimes more but thats my contracted hours and i very rarely get more.
he works 37 hours a week, soon to be reduced to 27. he comes out with roughly 500euro p/w now or 400 when his hours are reduced. thats very rough figures though tbh.

we want to move in together and do it all for ourselves re rent etc. I am currently looking for another job to make this possible but no such luck.

we are not entitled to FIS atm because he works too many hours and even when we may be entitled it wont be alot (playschool alone is forty p/w).

my question is would i be entitled to JSA?? i was told i wouldnt because my hours werent reduced as such (even though im not even on a three day week!). but surely if im only working one day a week and im looking for a better job then i should be entitled to JSA?
would my partners earnings be too high for me to be entitled?


i tried going to the CWO today to see about Supplementary Welfare Allowance and basically he said no chance of getting anything.

it just seems really unfair that we want to actually do things the right way and are actively looking for better jobs but cant.
Anyone know if im actually not entitled or was this a misunderstanding?

first of all your boyfriend has to be working a minimum of 19 hours per week to qualify for FIS. There is no upper limit of hours. there is an upper limit of wages, however, and if you move in together, your fella should apply straight away send as many payslips as they ask for and SW will average it out. minimum you will get is €20 per week, 1/2 the price of the playschool, if you like. to get JSA you need to have suffered a significant loss of employment. you haven't, so you don't qualify, d'ya see? you cant get SWA because your fella is working more than 30 hours a week, an automatic disqualification. even if hes cut to 27 hours,he still earns too much.
the only answer to this is for you to literally sit down, work out a strict budget, cut out anything that could even remotely be described as a luxury, and stick to it like glue.. any job you could get, especially when the baby is in playschool, would give you a great boost. good luck.

cee_jay

To get Jobseekers Benefit, there needs to be a substantial loss of employment. However, this condition doesn't matter for Jobseeker's Allowance.

LegacyUser

mrsbyrne wrote: »

first of all your boyfriend has to be working a minimum of 19 hours per week to qualify for FIS. There is no upper limit of hours. there is an upper limit of wages, however, and if you move in together, your fella should apply straight away send as many payslips as they ask for and SW will average it out. minimum you will get is €20 per week, 1/2 the price of the playschool, if you like. to get JSA you need to have suffered a significant loss of employment.

with regards to the too many hours for FIS, i just meant the hours hes expected to do now will leave him earning too much for us to be entitled- should've clarified sorry.



So for JSA i should be ok? there seems to be alot of confusion about this.

im also worried about the fact that to apply for the JSA it would be as a cohabiting but im still on my OPFP now...?? i guess the officer will understand the crossover issue and allow the application to go through as a couple even though we are not cohabiting as of yet?