Refused Job seekers allowance... can I appeal

positivenote

Hi All,

My wife left her job after 10 years (shes being paying PRSI for over 25years in total). She was working as a manger on average about 28-35 hours a week. When filling in her application for job seekers allowance she stated that she was available for 'part-time' work and the reason she left was as her employer was looking to appoint a 'full time' manager. Her application was refused.

The reality is that she is available for full time work and the reason for leaving her previous job was partially due to anxiety and stress caused during her job. This resulted in her GP documenting her sick leave for two weeks and her having to attend counsellling for a total of 4-5 weeks. She ulitmately decieded to hand in her notice when her employer said they were looking for a full time manager... something that she was not prepared to do in that environment and she saw this as the apporpriate time to leave the job.

She did not disclose this in her application as it is a very personal issue and she didnt want to upset her previous employer if she was probably going to need a refernce for the previous years working there. Following this refusal of job seekers allowance she is really stressed about it. Can anyone please advise on how to approach this as she is availbale for full time work and surely should be entitled to job seekers allowance whilst she looks for a job given her many years PRSI contribution. I am full time employed in the Pblic Sector if this has any baring on the matter, but this was not cited as the reason for the refusal, rather it was her unavaiblity for full time employment

Cheers

endofrainbow

Could she apply for Illness Benefit based on her contributions?

Big Bag of Chips

Did she not apply for Job Seeker's Benefit?

It is a different payment to Job Seeker's Allowance

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/unemployed_people/

positivenote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578941#Comment_119578941

Thanks for the reply. She applied for JSA as she didnt lose her job, rather she left it. But again, the personal circumstances related to stress etc were not cited to her employer as the reason for leaving as she wanted to be sure to get a reference that was appropriate to her work ethic and performance rather than the possibility of disgruntling (sic) her employer. Would she be entitled to apply for Job Seeker's Benfit as she has been employeed and paying PRSI consistnelty since 1998 in one form or another

Thanks again for response

positivenote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119578909#Comment_119578909

I actually dont know to be honest.

endofrainbow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119579186#Comment_119579186

Might be worth finding out.

Big Bag of Chips

Illness benefit is only paid to employees as far as I'm aware. So she'd have to have an employer but be signed off work by her GP.

Her first stop should be citizens advice centre or community welfare officer to ask what she is entitled to and what she should be applying for.

She should apply for Job seekers benefit, as that is a benefit she is entitled to after building up the appropriate PRSI contributions. It is not means tested. When this runs out she may or may not be entitled to job seekers allowance. It is means tested and she may not qualify.

Necro

Nah Illness Benefit is based on PRSI cons so it's not a requirement that you're currently employed (a common misconception actually)

To qualify you need a minimum of 104 paid PRSI contributions at a qualifying class (A, E, H or P are the only ones reckonable) since entering employment

And

39 paid or credited contributions (13 have to be paid) from the relevant tax year (for claims made in 2022 this is 2020)

So with a full 25 year history there shouldn't be a problem claiming Illness Benefit but you do need a GP to certify you as unfit for work and send in certification to the department. They'll also give you the application form (IB1) that you fill up and post to the address on the rear. Once they have the cert and the application form the claim can be processed.

LousClues

Tell her to apply for jobseekers benefit, she should be honest and explain why she left. As she said she was looking for PT is the reason she was disallowed.

Maybe if she applied again and was refused then appeal it. I believe appeals take a long time to come through.

if she’s not ready to work IB is another route to take.

positivenote

Apologies all, it was job seekers benfit that she has been refused.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119590553#Comment_119590553

She’s been refused as she said that she wasn’t available for full time work.

Jobseekers applicants have to be looking for available for and fit for full time work.

Im puzzled as to why she ended her claim for Illness Benefit? Did her GP say that she was now fit for work?

Please ignore the poster who says that you need an employer to get illness benefit, that’s not true.

If your wife is still suffering from stress then she’s not “fit for full time work” and her GP can sign her up for IB again.

If she is fit for work then she needs to go back to the DSP office and tell them that she misunderstood the question and she is in fact looking for and available for full time work.

They will ask her for evidence of searching for work, and what kind of work she’s looking for (the answer is whatever she was doing when she left, but open to suggestion).

She is also being penalized for having left her job. JSB consider that if you leave without a good reason then you’re not looking for work. DSP will have contacted her last employer and asked the circumstances surrounding her departure.

If she left because her boss wanted a full time person (please correct me if I’m wrong) and she didn’t want that, then I’m concerned that she won’t be successful.

positivenote

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119592816#Comment_119592816

While she was off work she didnt get paid anything. Should she seek to claim for that period of time she was signed off due to stress by her GP?

She returned to work following this leave despite the doctor saying that he would sign her of for another two weeks if she felt she needed it. She has been medicated ever since to cope with the anxiety. But given her nature she returned to work and decided to attend the counsilling (at 60euro a session) for 4 works to try and use that as a coping mechanism. Counsillor advised her to leave her job as it was causing undue / unmanageable stress and it was then that she decided to leave her job. It took her a few months to get everything in place and it was towrads the end that her employer pushed for the ful time proposal. This put a fire under her so to speak and she handed in her notice giving them 6-8 weeks notice. Since then she has not signed on or anything like that and as I say was very upset to have been refesued any support despite having paid PRSI since being 18 and never having got a penny assistance from the state (apart from child allowence) in the last 25 years.

again any advice on this is very appreciated.

ari101

There is a time limit on back dated illness benefit claims so best to ask GP for social welfare certs for the period she was signed off and apply either by Form IB1 or on Mywelfare as soon as possible. She can say her mental state meant dealing with daily tasks was challenging in the reason for late application section if she is late.

It is unfortunate she said she was looking for part time work. She should go back in as suggested above and state she made an error on her application, she was part time employed previously but is available for full time work. And also tell them she left without another job due to difficulties in the work place, and had been on sick leave as a result but is now well and available.

It might be worth going back on illness benefit for a couple of weeks as suggested by her doctor. Then go back into social welfare re the above.

Leaving your job without cause (subjective decision SW make) can result in a 9 week period of no payment, but after that once she is fully available and looking it should be fine.

She disqualified herself by claiming she was only available for part-time work.

To qualify for either Job seekers allowance or benefit you must be available for an seeking full-time work

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119612058#Comment_119612058

She’s been refused on technicalities really. Having a surfeit of PRSI contributions is only a small part of the criteria to meet to qualify for Jobseekers. As soon as she said she was only looking for part time work she was disqualified.

As said above she can try and apply retrospectively for Illness Benefit. There’s a part of the application form where you can explain why you didn’t apply promptly and she can add a letter of explanation from herself.

If her GP thinks she needed a bit more down time then it’s probably wise to follow his instructions. The best of luck to both of you.

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119615116#Comment_119615116

What are you talking about?

TooTired123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119615779#Comment_119615779

Cool. Thanks for the advice. Just to give my silly little head a chance, can you point me in the direction of a gov.ie article which indicates that Jobseekers payments are going to double in September and October November and December

My heads soooo addled from the Phil/Cat storyline I just can’t see anything about that….as hard as I try….

endofrainbow

Unfortunately, IB doesn't qualify for the Christmas bonus as it is considered a 'short term' payment. This may change in the upcoming budget however.