3 day week - Claim Dole now or wait in case let go.

I have a couple of friends who have been put on a 3 day week. friend1 has claimed social welfare for the other two days and friend2 doesnt want to claim for the days he doesnt work as he believes that any time he claims now will count towards the 12 months 'claimable' period for JB.

He is concerned that if he loses his job down the line he may not be able to claim JB for the full twelve months (if he needs to!) i.e. if he claims for 2 days a week for 9 mths and then loses his job he would only be entitled to UB for another 3 months which may not be enough time to find a new job.

Is friend2 right or should he sign on now?

He is partially right, in that it would start to use up his entitlement. However, the length of the claim is actually measured in days, so 52 weeks x 6 days = 312 days. If he signs on for 2 days a week for 9 months, that would be 78 days, leaving him 234/6= 9 months benefit left.