# Refused swp



## torres1892 (15 Nov 2010)

Hi all,
i was put on a 2 day week in the first week of october.
went into my local sw office and filled out the forms i was given,i passed them back with all the correct documentation i was asked to give them within 2 days.
a week an half later i was refused benefit because i was NOT ACTIVELY SEEKING FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT! and was asked to provide information thet i was actively seeking work and that i had also signed for FAS.
went into FAS but they told me they could not sign me up as i was still in employment and gave me a letter.
i filled out an appeal form and also filled out another form to say where i had applied for other jobs and sent these back with the letter from FAS all within two days, this was about two and half weeks ago.
heard nothing  back from them so i rang them today only to be told it was refused again and hsad been passed on to the head office in dublin.
this is over a month later any advice please its getting a bit of a joke!!!
AM I OR AM I NOT NOT ENTITLED TO SWP?
Have been with the same employer since 1996


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## Fullback (15 Nov 2010)

This seems strange. If you are genuinely seeking work and can prove it, I don't see why you can't qualify. It's hard to figure out what's going on.

What exactly did you give them as proof of job search?

Were you offered more days at work than just the two, and turned down the extra days?

Have they told you what exactly they dispute or if they don't accept some of your evidence?

I think you should ask for it to be reviewed again (an appeal will take over 7 month). Maybe write to the local social welfare manager and (politely) ask what exactly they dispute and how you haven't fulfilled the job search requirements.


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## torres1892 (16 Nov 2010)

hi fullback, thanks for the reply,
i rang the sw office today and got to speak to the deciding officer only to b told my claim had been declined and had been reffered to dublin and i will be waiting months and months and months for a reply she could do nothing else and hung up the phone.
what is annoying me so much is thet i work in a golf club and and the reason i was put on 2 days is because off the bad weather we wiil be getting and the short days now with lack of light,come march i will be back in full time employment again once the fine weather starts coming back in and the longer days. i have been putting in for jobs but have not got 1 reply yet,i have been working for the same employer for the last 15 years and its not that easy just too pack up my job and get another one so easily,i have been paying my prsi year i year out what is there problem?


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## torres1892 (16 Nov 2010)

hi fullback, thanks for the reply,
i rang the sw office and got to speak to the deciding officer only to b told my claim had been declined and had been reffered to dublin and i will be waiting months and months and months for a reply she could do nothing else and hung up the phone.
what is annoying me so much is thet i work in a golf club and and the reason i was put on 2 days is because off the bad weather we wiil be getting and the short days now with lack of light,come march i will be back in full time employment again once the fine weather starts coming back in and the longer days. i have been putting in for jobs but have not got 1 reply yet,i have been working for the same employer for the last 15 years and its not that easy just too pack up my job and get another one so easily,i have been paying my prsi year i year out what is there problem?


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## Fullback (16 Nov 2010)

It seems like the problem is that you had no actual physical proof of a job search. Is there any way you could ask some of the employers concerned to acknowledge your application in writing confirming the date you applied?

You can read more on how you can satisfy the "genuinely seeking work" criteria here. There is a section specifically on it. It details the kind of actions expected of someone searching for work and might be helpful in knowing what boxes they want ticked

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/jb_jobseekben.aspx#gsw

I could be wrong but the Dublin thing seems like a reference to the Social Welfare Appeals Office? There is really no point waiting for 7 months for a decision from them.

Again, if you made genuine attempts to find employment, I wouldn't give up on this. You just need to give them more evidence of what you did.


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## Welfarite (27 Nov 2010)

It is strange that this has happened considering that you are working shiort-time involuntarily. It is very rare that a person in your situation would be refused in thsi eway. Could you have inadvertantly answered that you were only available for part-time work? Was the evidence you produced for full-tiem work? Whatever, you have no choice now but to go through the appeals process as the decision has been made and can only be changed in the light of new evidence.


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