Part-time work and Job Seeker's Benefit

Bloody Nipples

Howdy all,
just a few questions that I hope someone here can supply answers to.
I finished up my degree about 3 weeks ago and applied for the dole this week (Friday). However, the day I signed on I was offered an interview for a part-time position in a supermarket. I've a lot of experience with this company (2.5 years in a different branch) and I'm expecting to get the position (getting to the interview stage with this company is very, very promising).

I mentioned that I had this interview when signing on and they informed me that I'd be entitled to social welfare payments if my working week didn't exceed 3 days and I'd be entitled to JSB payments up to the date I start work.

Now my questions are:
1. If I'm working more than 3 days one week and less than 3 days another week, can I apply for the supplemental payments on the weeks I'm working 3 days or less or would ALL weeks have to be 3 days or less for me to qualify?

2. I currently qualify for JSB at 147 euro a week. Would supplemental payments be based on JSB or JSA?

3. If I'm in a position to claim SW on these weeks, is it the full JSB payment or JSA payment or is it a portion of one of the two?

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far, any answers/general advice much appreciated!

Adyx

I currently work part-time and receive a payment for the days I don't work. You can work up to 3 days or 4 if you work a Sunday.

1. You can work more than the 3 days and it won't affect the next week. Basically you get a little slip and you just mark the days you worked on it and drop it back to the SW office.

2. I'm not sure. I was under the impression that part-time workers got a JSA payment, but I was still on JSB when I got a job and nothing was said about a change.

3. The week is calculated as 6 days ( Sunday is "free") so for every day you work you lose 1/6 of your payment.

Bloody Nipples

Thank you! That's a great help!

slackerdude

Not strictly related to the original poster but to the title of this thread. Is it not the case that if you claim dole for days not worked as a part time worker you have to be genuinely seeking full time work? This is another area that needs to be looked at by the department of social protection. Also, how long can you receive dole as a part time worker? Is there a cutoff point after a few years or can you receive it indefinitely?

cee_jay

Casual workers are expected to be looking for, and be available for, full time work, and the Department do checks to ensure of this, just like those who are fully unemployed.

peterpan123

Hi,

I was just wondering if anybdy knows if you are able to start the dole process before you finish work? My contract is finished in 2 weeks and I was wondering as I am already actively seeking jobs am i able to get the process rolling so i begin to receive job seekers benefit from the day i finish work?

mp22

peterpan123 wrote: »

Hi,

I was just wondering if anybdy knows if you are able to start the dole process before you finish work? My contract is finished in 2 weeks and I was wondering as I am already actively seeking jobs am i able to get the process rolling so i begin to receive job seekers benefit from the day i finish work?

No the process starts on the first day that you are unemployed,as stated on your P45.

Lugh Ildanach

Bloody Nipples wrote: »

Howdy all,
just a few questions that I hope someone here can supply answers to.
I finished up my degree about 3 weeks ago and applied for the dole this week (Friday). However, the day I signed on I was offered an interview for a part-time position in a supermarket. I've a lot of experience with this company (2.5 years in a different branch) and I'm expecting to get the position (getting to the interview stage with this company is very, very promising).

I mentioned that I had this interview when signing on and they informed me that I'd be entitled to social welfare payments if my working week didn't exceed 3 days and I'd be entitled to JSB payments up to the date I start work.

Now my questions are:
1. If I'm working more than 3 days one week and less than 3 days another week, can I apply for the supplemental payments on the weeks I'm working 3 days or less or would ALL weeks have to be 3 days or less for me to qualify?

2. I currently qualify for JSB at 147 euro a week. Would supplemental payments be based on JSB or JSA?

3. If I'm in a position to claim SW on these weeks, is it the full JSB payment or JSA payment or is it a portion of one of the two?

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far, any answers/general advice much appreciated!

What do you mean by supplemental payments? This is a bit confusing as there is a payment called supplementary welfare allowance, which may apply in some circumstances.

If you qualify for Jobseekers Benefit at a rate which is lower than the rate of Jobseekers Allowance, you can opt to get optional Jobseekers Allowance instead. You can switch back and forward as many times as you want while your entitlement to Jobseekers Benefit remains. Time on optional Jobseekers Allowance exhausts your Jobseekers Benefit entitlement. Entitlement to Benefit is calculated in days. If you have more than 260 PRSI contributions you have an entitlement to Benefit for 312 days, and obviously the more days you claim for, the quicker your Benefit exhausts. You may re-qualify for Benefit after you exhaust your entitlement in certain circumstances (which i'll not confuse you with now as this is some time away for you!)

For Jobseekers Benefit, you get a reduced payment depending on how many days you work. If you work 3 days, you get paid Benefit for the other 3 days, ie you get half of your rate. If your rate is 147 you will get half of that (i'm too lazy to do the maths!). The Benefit payment is not means tested so doesn't take into account whether you have income from other sources.

If you opt for Jobseekers Allowance, then there is a calculation that they use which depends on your family size and the income you get from part-time employment. See here for details of how they assess income from employment http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/ja_inc_insuremp.aspx

For both Jobseekers Allowance and Benefit, if you go over the three days in the week you lose entitlement for the whole of that week (the JA week runs Wed to Tues, the JB week runs Thurs to Wed). Sundays, and the income you get from working on Sunday, are not counted in the calculation (other than to determine your daily rate, or if your weekly means exceeds the limit)

If you let us know the gross amount you will be earning and what days you will be working someone can do the sums for you to see which is better for you. You will also need to let us know if you have a partner/spouse, what their income is, if any, and whether you have any children. Also, just to check your Jobseekers Benefit rate, let us know what your average weekly pay was in 2009.

peterpan123

mp22 wrote: »

No the process starts on the first day that you are unemployed,as stated on your P45.

Ah ok thanks for that. What if hypothetically speaking that you start the process and haven't heard anything back for maybe 3 or 4 weeks and you also still havent found a job and decide to move abroad to look for one, are you still entitled to those 3 or 4 weeks forwhich you stated the process in which you were looking for a job in ireland??