Jobseekers week question

ninebeanrows

Right so looks like I will be royally done by the way the years fell.

The relevant tax year is 2011, I left a job in May that year and had 22 payable weeks, 2010 I had 52 payable weeks.

Recent I got employed again in 2012 for around 11 months before finishing in June 2013.

So is there any circumstance where the deciding officer can look at your history and see that the way the employment fell has been extremely unfortunate?

It is necessary to have 26 payable weeks in relevant tax year and 26 in year immediately prior.

I have 22 weeks in relevant tax year and 52 in year immediately prior.

Is there any common sense applied in the application process?

Cushie Butterfield

I may be misunderstanding your position, but when you say 'payable weeks' what exactly do you mean?

Paid contributions are contributions that you have actually paid (deducted from your wages). Credited contributions are contributions that are 'credited' to your record e.g. if you are claiming jobseekers benefit or assistance you receive credited contributions.

So in 2011 if you worked for 22 weeks you would have 22 paid contributions & if you claimed a jobseeker's payment for the remaining 30 weeks of that year you would have 30 credited contributions.

That would mean that you satisfy the PRSI qualifying conditions for the relevant year: 39 weeks PRSI paid or credited in the relevant tax year (a minimum of 13 weeks must be paid contributions) assuming that you have a total of 104 weeks PRSI paid since you first started work.

So, it looks as if you have 22 paid contributions for 2011, so if you have at least 17 credited contributions for 2011 you should qualify once you have a total of 104 paid contributions since you first started working.

ninebeanrows

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

I may be misunderstanding your position, but when you say 'payable weeks' what exactly do you mean?

Paid contributions are contributions that you have actually paid (deducted from your wages). Credited contributions are contributions that are 'credited' to your record e.g. if you are claiming jobseekers benefit or assistance you receive credited contributions.

So in 2011 if you worked for 22 weeks you would have 22 paid contributions & if you claimed a jobseeker's payment for the remaining 30 weeks of that year you would have 30 credited contributions.

That would mean that you satisfy the PRSI qualifying conditions for the relevant year: 39 weeks PRSI paid or credited in the relevant tax year (a minimum of 13 weeks must be paid contributions) assuming that you have a total of 104 weeks PRSI paid since you first started work.

So, it looks as if you have 22 paid contributions for 2011, so if you have at least 17 credited contributions for 2011 you should qualify once you have a total of 104 paid contributions since you first started working.

Thanks for the reply, i did not get any social welfare payment during that period as i was still in full time education so i had no PRSI credits payed.

My qualification would be through the 26 weeks in relevant tax year and 26 in the year immediately previous.

But i fall short at 22 weeks in 2011 with any other contributions as i was not signing on.

Is there anyway of being credited contributions in 2011 to get to the magic 26 weeks or can the office make a fair decision considering my history of payed contributions.


My history:
2009- 52
2010- 52
2011- 22
2012- 30
2013-26

Cushie Butterfield

Weathercheck wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, i did not get any social welfare payment during that period as i was still in full time education so i had no PRSI credits payed.

My qualification would be through the 26 weeks in relevant tax year and 26 in the year immediately previous.

But i fall short at 22 weeks in 2011 with any other contributions as i was not signing on.

Is there anyway of being credited contributions in 2011 to get to the magic 26 weeks or can the office make a fair decision considering my history of payed contributions.


My history:
2009- 52
2010- 52
2011- 22
2012- 30
2013-26

Oh ok. No, as far as I know there is no power of discretion, so 26 is the magic number unfortunately, but you should submit an application anyway & let them tell you that you are not entitled.

I don't know whether or not this would apply to you, but there are such things as Student Credits. From http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/PRSI-Credits.aspx:
''Credits may be given for periods in full-time education, (e.g. third-level), if you:

-have worked before starting the course and paid PRSI Class A
-started the course before reaching age 23
and
-have started your first full-time insurable employment.

When you apply for Student 'credits', you will need to supply:

-written confirmation from the school/college stating that you were a student there;
-the dates you attended the school/college, and
-confirmation of your re-entry into full-time insurable employment.

Student 'credits' are only given once''

You could always contact the section below & enquire as to whether you would be entitled to get them added to your record, which may or may not help you with a claim:

PRSI Records Section
Department of Social Protection
McCarter's Road
Ardaravan
Buncrana
Donegal
Ireland

Tel:(01) 471 5898
Locall:1890 690 690