# job seekers allowance



## mbla (18 Jan 2007)

Hi,
my hours have been cut in work from 5 days to 3 days.
I will be working thurs,fri and sat one week then tues, thurs, fri the following wek indefinitely.
I was hoping to claim job seekers allowance for the days i am unemployed, however i believe the social welfare week goes from thurs-weds, therefore i may not qualify purely because of which days i work. i read that you need to be unemployed for 3 out of 6 days, however i would be working thurs, fri, sat and tues in week one then just thurs and fri in week 2.. would i still qualify.. seems unfair if i dont because i am still only working 3 days a week!


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## ClubMan (18 Jan 2007)

Probably easiest just to inquire/apply at your local _SW _office and they can tell you if you qualify or not. As mentioned here recently, in spite of what many people seem to think, they are quite approachable in most cases. That's certainly my experience when I was unemployed for several months a few years back.


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## Berni (18 Jan 2007)

As ClubMan said, they won't bite down the social welfare office. 
You will be asked to get your employer to fill in a sheet recording which days each week you work. The three days doesn't have to be every week, they can average it over longer for just this scenario.


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## Welfarite (19 Jan 2007)

The rule of 3 days in 6 actually means three days in the last six six ...not in the benefit week that they operate. I think you know that they don't count Sundays, yeah?. Your pattern of wrok will mean that you will be paid for 4 days one week (T,F,S,T) and 2 days the next (T,F). The first three days of umeployment are not payable. 

Also, you might have to get a letter from the employer stating that they are are reducing your hours (to prove it's not you taking fewer hours to get SW).


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