leaving job and dole

garbo speaks

Hi all, just asking for some advice on this so here goes...
I left my job of 5 years voluntarily at the start of November 2017. I did this in order to attempt build a business from home. Unfortunately however, this has not worked out and my savings have almost ran out. My question is what should I be entitled to when I go to the dole office ?

splinter65

garbo speaks wrote: »

Hi all, just asking for some advice on this so here goes...
I left my job of 5 years voluntarily at the start of November 2017. I did this in order to attempt build a business from home. Unfortunately however, this has not worked out and my savings have almost ran out. My question is what should I be entitled to when I go to the dole office ?

Your probably going to be ultimately entitled to JSB, just a few hoops to jump through first.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

If you left a job willingly, you have to wait 10 weeks to get social welfare, that time should be up now so I would get down to the social welfare office as soon as you can to put in your claim

Not sure what the deal is with your business, that could be an issue if it's brought up. You might be deemed self employed and get nothing.

Effects

Grace Abundant Ceremony wrote: »

You might be deemed self employed and get nothing.

Is that still the case even if you have built up your stamps/contributions?
Wouldn't the income from the business be means tested, and if it's not working out you would be entitled to something?

Avatar MIA

Grace Abundant Ceremony wrote: »

If you left a job willingly, you have to wait 10 weeks to get social welfare, that time should be up now so I would get down to the social welfare office as soon as you can to put in your claim

Not sure what the deal is with your business, that could be an issue if it's brought up. You might be deemed self employed and get nothing.

Is that 10 weeks from when you left your job or 10 weeks from when you claim. I'm thinking the latter because the OP technically hasn't been unemployed until the claim.

Akrasia

Avatar MIA wrote: »

Is that 10 weeks from when you left your job or 10 weeks from when you claim. I'm thinking the latter because the OP technically hasn't been unemployed until the claim.

In that case his last job was his attempt at self employment so if there shouldn't be a wait period for leaving voluntarily if the business didn't work out

clintondaly

You may be disqualified from getting Jobseeker's Benefit for 9 weeks if you:

Left work voluntarily and without a reasonable cause
Lost your job through misconduct
Refused an offer of suitable alternative employment or suitable training - if you have been on a penalty rate of JB for at least 21 days
Are aged under 55 and get a redundancy payment of more than €50,000. The exact length of your disqualification (up to 9 weeks) will depend on the amount of redundancy payment you received.

emeldc

Grace Abundant Ceremony wrote: »

If you left a job willingly, you have to wait 10 weeks to get social welfare, that time should be up now so I would get down to the social welfare office as soon as you can to put in your claim

Not sure what the deal is with your business, that could be an issue if it's brought up. You might be deemed self employed and get nothing.

Wouldn't be up to date with this stuff but it used to be that your SW entitlements were based on the contributions that were made two years prior to losing your job.

garbo speaks

Grace Abundant Ceremony wrote: »

Not sure what the deal is with your business, that could be an issue if it's brought up. You might be deemed self employed and get nothing.

Thats the fear I have at the moment, even though I have not earned any money at this. I still want my business to take off and I don't want to give up on it, but I am getting really strapped for cash these days.

emeldc

garbo speaks wrote: »

Thats the fear I have at the moment, even though I have not earned any money at this. I still want my business to take off and I don't want to give up on it, but I am getting really strapped for cash these days.

I wouldn't be saying that to SW if you're trying to claim job seekers allowance.

marguerite2000

elf-employed people can become unemployed if their business has to close down. It may also be the case, though you continue to be self-employed the amount of work you are getting has reduced so much that it no longer provides you with a sufficient income.

If you find yourself unemployed or you are getting less work than before you may qualify for a jobseeker's payment. You do not need to de-register as self-employed to get a payment. However you must meet the conditions that apply to jobseeker's payments.

If you do not qualify for a social welfare payment you may be eligible to pay voluntary contributions.

Jobseeker's Benefit
Self-employed people pay Class S PRSI. Class S PRSI only covers you for certain social welfare payments. It does not cover you for Jobseeker’s Benefit.

However, if you worked as an employee in the last 4 years, you may have paid Class A PRSI and should apply to your local Intreo Centre or social welfare local office for Jobseeker’s Benefit. Your Intreo centre or social welfare local office will check their records to find out whether you have enough Class A contributions to get Jobseeker’s Benefit.

If you work part-time you may qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit. However, you must have lost at least one day of employment and as a result of this loss be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7 days. Your earnings must also have been reduced because of the loss of employment. For example, if you are engaged under a contract for service to work (on a self-employed basis) for 3 days per week and unemployed for the remainder of the week, you may qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit. Jobseeker’s Benefit is taxable.

If you do not qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit you may get Jobseeker’s Allowance. When you apply for Jobseeker’s Benefit you will be asked if you want to be assessed for Jobseeker’s Allowance if your claim for Jobseeker’s Benefit is unsuccessful.

Jobseeker's Allowance
To get Jobseeker’s Allowance you must be habitually resident and pass a means test. If you are self-employed, you may be entitled to Jobseeker's Allowance depending on your earnings from your business. You do not need to close your business or stop working as self-employed for you to get Jobseeker’s Allowance. You will get Jobseeker’s Allowance if your income is below a certain level.

Income from self-employment and the means test
The earnings from your business will be assessed in the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance. The assessment must reflect the income you may reasonably be expected to get from your business over the next 12 months. Income for the last 12 months will be taken as a guide but allowing for any factors which it is known will vary. You should be prepared to discuss these factors when you are assessed for Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Earnings are assessed as gross income less work related expenses over 12 months. Your expected annual earnings from self-employment is divided by 52 to find your weekly means from self-employment. Any ‘drawings’ you take from the business is not an allowable expense. If your ‘drawings’ from the business are greater than the level of income calculated, the ‘drawings’ are assessed as cash income. There is no exhaustive list of all business expenses allowed because expenses vary with the nature and extent of the self-employment. However the following are the main allowable expenses in most cases:

Materials (supplies costs)
Motor running costs (portion applicable to business)
Depreciation of machinery or equipment
Insurance relating to the business
Telephone (portion applicable to business)
Lighting and heating (for business and not domestic use)
Advertising
Bank charges
Stationery
Van leasing
Any other costs associated with running the business (household running costs are not allowed as deductions against business profit)
To prove the level of income from your business you must give your receipts and payments (documentation showing money coming in and out of your business) or audited accounts to the person dealing with your application in your Intreo centre or social welfare local office.

marguerite2000

Didnt mean to copy so much ,but the jist is you can apply and stay self employed with conditions to be met.Go to welfare.ie and look for self employed and jobseekers.