JSB to end - can I requalify by doing voluntary work.

Ebony1

My hubby has been getting JSB 2 days per week for over a year and fulltime for the last few months. JSB is due to stop towards end of January 2012. He's not entitled to JSA as my earnings are over the threshold. He's doing his best to find a job, but no success so far. Someone told me that you can still be entitled to JSB if you do volunteering work. Does anyone have more info on this ? Would he be entitled to continue to receive JSB if he volunteers and if so, how many hours does he need to volunteer for. He wants to work and wouldn't mind volunteering if it meant he could keep his JSB, it would get him out of the house and keep him sane. Also, we would be really struggling to get by on my salary alone.

Balagan

This outlines the criteria for requalifying for JSB\:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/unemployed_people/jobseekers_benefit.html

I have never heard that you can requalify by doing volunteer work, (maybe others on here know more) but with JobBridge internships, if you are eligible, you retain the social welfare payment you are presently receiving and receive an additional Euro 50 per week. The site also states

For interns, the period in receipt of the internship allowance will be disregarded in respect of social welfare payment and, upon completion of the scheme, the social welfare claim will be resumed from the point at which they left. For example, an individual on jobseeker's benefit with 60 days of entitlement left on his/her claim will still have 60 days of entitlement left when their internship is completed if they resume their claim.
http://www.jobbridge.ie/default.aspx

It would be worth it for your husband to look into the JobBridge internships (they are on the Fas website http://www.fas.ie/en/) for a possible internship
and check with Social Welfare if he qualifies.

cee_jay

You can't requalify by doing voluntary work. When looking at requalification, you have to have paid 13 A class stamps since your 156th day of unemployment. You also have to have suffered a loss in employment - so if you have been working casually, and normally work 3 days a week, and are still working 3 days a week, there would be no loss there. They will look back over the last 13 weeks to see if there has been a loss.

phormium

I wish! No, you can't continue jb by volunteering but he may as well do it anyway as it will give him something to do.