Jobseekers Allowance

LegacyUser

Hi,

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

I am currently working part time. I work 3 days a week. I have just received a letter in the post regarding my Jobseekers Allowance. I don't really understand much of what's in the letter. It's my weekly means assement.

First of it says, you have weekly means from employment amouting to:....what does this mean? Is that what I'm entitled to?

Then it breaks it down and say daily means from employment, I know this may sound rather stupid but I don't understand what daily/weekly means staynds for. I have been lucky enough for this to be my first time not in full time work so I am very unaware of how it all works.

Anyone that has any information it is much appreciated.

Thank you

DanDublin1982

Is your employment your only source of means?

If so and your daily means are €50 and you work two days you will €100 deducted from your payment, if you worked three days €150 would be deducted.

If you have other means they will also be deducted.

tenifan

alittleconfusedhere wrote: »

First of it says, you have weekly means from employment amouting to:....what does this mean? Is that what I'm entitled to?

Hmm, it's a fairly straightforward question, and no, that's not what it means.

I'd probably advise you to get help filling out the form from citizens information. You don't want to make a mistake filling out these forms as it could result in an overpayment to you, followed by a demand for the money back.

LegacyUser

OP here,

Thank you for your replies.
it says you have weekly means from employment amounting to: 126
My daily means is: 63

what does this mean, anyone have any idea what kind of weekly benefit I'm entitled to? I understand it probably seems straightforward but I don't know whether it means I'm entitled to 126 a week or that gets deducted from the 188 a week leaving me with 62?

Thank you again

DanDublin1982

tenifan wrote: »

Hmm, it's a fairly straightforward question, and no, that's not what it means.

I'd probably advise you to get help filling out the form from citizens information. You don't want to make a mistake filling out these forms as it could result in an overpayment to you, followed by a demand for the money back.

What form?

tenifan

DanDublin1982 wrote: »

What form?

ah it's just a letter. Your means is just how much you earn.

Cushie Butterfield

alittleconfusedhere wrote: »

First of it says, you have weekly means from employment amouting to:....what does this mean? Is that what I'm entitled to?

Means from employment is the portion of your pay from work that they take into account in working out how much your Jobseeker's Allowance payment will be. No, it's not what you're entitled to - it's how much they deduct from the Jobseeker's Allowance payment that you would get if you were fully unemployed

alittleconfusedhere wrote: »

Then it breaks it down and say daily means from employment, I know this may sound rather stupid but I don't understand what daily/weekly means staynds for.

Have a look here to see exactly how they calculate your daily & weekly means: http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/reference/worksheets/worksheet_jobseekers_allowance_and_income_from_work.html

LegacyUser

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

Means from employment is the portion of your pay from work that they take into account in working out how much your Jobseeker's Allowance payment will be. No, it's not what you're entitled to - it's how much they deduct from the Jobseeker's Allowance payment that you would get if you were fully unemployed

Thank you, tbh I'm still lost as I can't figure out if I'm entitled to any benefit. I don't know if this letter indicates I'm not entitled to anything or not and I don't want to continue posting in my dockets if not.

I earn 250 for 2 days a week work. It says I have weekly means from employemnt amounting to 126 and daily means amounting to 63.

I have worked full time and paid prsi contributions for the past 2 years, I'm 26 and I have no savings or investments of note.

Anyone here able to work out roughly what or if I'm entitled to anything, your help is much appreciated.

Thank you again for all your help.

mrsbyrne

Your JSA entitlement is €62 weekly.
I presume you are just claiming for yourself?

Cushie Butterfield

If you look at the worksheet that I linked to above, the daily & weekly means that was stated in the letter you got ties in with that.

250 less 40 (€20 a day disregard x 2) = 210

210 X 60% = 126 (your weekly means)

This shows that your weekly means are not in excess of €188, so you would be entitled to a Jobseeker's Allowance payment.

126 ÷ 2 (days work) = 63 (your daily means)

63 x 2 = 126

188 minus 126 = 62

So, as the above post says & going by the information that you provided your weekly Jobseeker's Allowance payment should be €62.

eastbono

You state you work 3 days a week. If that is the case then you will be means in excess as for each day you work €63 will be deducted from your €188. If you only work 2 days you will receive €62 as stated by Cushie above.

LegacyUser

Thank you very much for the replies, very grateful

I have some friends that work part time and they receive 30 for every day they aren't at work. PRSI contributions or something to that effect??

eastbono

They are on jobseekers benefit which is not means tested.

LegacyUser

What do I need to qualify for jobseekers benefit?

Cushie Butterfield

There are two types of Jobseeker's payments - Jobseeker's Benefit (non-means tested based on PRSI contributions), and Jobseeker's Allowance (means tested not based on PRSI contributions).

There is no easy way of saying this - now that you are in the situation that you are in you will have to familiarise yourself with the difference between the two, so it would be worth your while clicking the above links & reading through the information, especially about Jobseeker's Benefit & the qualifying conditions especially as regards the number of PRSI contributions that you would have needed to have paid in order to qualify for it.. Just scroll down to the section ''Social insurance (PRSI) contributions''

In your case in order to qualfify for JSB you would have had to have ( I'm assuming you've paid Class A PRSI):

- At least 104 weeks PRSI paid since you first started work - you say that you have worked full time for two years, so if that was your first job, depending on what month you started in 2012 you may or may not qualify for JSB. if it wasn't your first job & had worked during the summer before or whatever you may still satisfy that particular condition?

and
- 39 weeks PRSI paid or credited in the relevant tax year (a minimum of 13 weeks must be paid contributions[highlight]*[/highlight]) which for you is 2012.

[highlight]*[/highlight]If you do not have 13 paid contributions in the relevant tax year (2012), you must have paid 13 contributions in any of the following years:

The 2 tax years before the relevant tax year (2010 or 2011)
The last complete tax year (2013)
The current tax year. (2014)

It may be the case that you were never awarded pre-entry credits for 2012 if that was the first year that you worked, so it would be worth your while enquiring about that also:
PRSI Records
Department of Social Protection
McCarter's Road
Ardaravan
Buncrana
Donegal
Ireland

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

Your best course of action would be to talk to someone face to face - either go into your local social welfare office or citizen's information to explain the difference between the two payments. Make sure you write down your employment details (dates) since you first started work as well as any P60s that you have. Citizen's Info won't have access to your PRSI records but your local social welfare office should, & will be able to tell you whether or not there is a record of all your contributions, & whether or not your record shows that you qualify for JSB. If there is a gap or some missing this might help you qualify for JSB so it's worthwhile following it up.

LegacyUser

Thank you cushie butterfield, your response was more than helpful.

I started work in Oct 2012. I've had summer jobs before this and I actually worked for the entire of 2010 whilst in college.

Just wondering is it possible to use up your contributions?

Cushie Butterfield

The chances are that you're not far off the 104 or 39. Find out exactly what's on your record (class/paid or credited/number of contributions for each year & you'll be able to figure out if there's anything missing that might help you qualify.

LegacyUser

Thank you,

I made a call to find out what prsi contributions I have

I have 173 in total paid. 2013 I have 36 paid and 2012 I have 17 paid. I'm not sure where exactly that leaves me but thatnk you regardless for all the helpful information

eastbono

OP bear in mind that with jobseekers benefit you have to had incurred a substantial loss of employment and if you have been on a 3 day week for quite some time before you qualify for benefit then this will be taken as your normal work pattern and you will not have incurred a substantial loss of employment and will have to opt for allowance instead.

Riat

Hi I am writing regarding jobseeker allowance as I job finishin this week and I am non European and have Stamp4EUFAM upto 2019 but again for visa in 2019 do I get problem if I apply for jobseeker allowance, hope to hear from you all soon