Jobseekers Benefit Re-Qualified but for less days

This applies to both myself and my OH as we work for the same company and work the exact same hours/days. We did'nt qualify for Jobseekers Allowance due to means test (assets but very little cash).

We both re-qualified for Jobseekers Benefit BUT due to our work pattern that was picked and we had only been working mostly one day a week so if I work ONE day per week I will get nothing (this is since August) and my OH if he works TWO days per week he will get nothing (this is since last week). We have both appealed to both the local office and to the Appeals Office.

Since July we have thankfully been working a minimum of three days per week and a few weeks we have had fulltime work and at present we are back to three days per week again.

A few minutes ago a lady rang my OH from Social Welfare and she explained to him about working two days he will not qualify for anything and he asked her to speak to me to explain as I was looking for more yellow dockets as we had been using white dockets that they gave me in the local office to tide us over and I asked her about my file and she told me that my file is closed.

I have been sending in white dockets every week since begining of August and am waiting to hear back from the appeal which I was told could take months.

Should we ignore the appeal and just re-apply on a fresh application form again for Jobseekers Allowance.

(What I find so strange is we were put on short-time the very same day and have worked the exact same days as each other but my claim ran out aprox 2 months before my husbands)

Thank you in advance for advice.

If your normal level of employment has been established as one and two days respectively, then the Department are correct in saying that if you work at this level you are not entitled to a Jobseekers Benefit claim. The reason for this is that one of the conditions is that you must have lost at least one day's employment to qualify.

You should ask for the calculation of how they got the one and two days. They usually use the last 13 weeks as a reference period, but you can argue that 26 or 52 weeks should be used if it is more representative of your work over the past year. It does seem odd that they have come to a different conclusion for you and your OH given that you have worked the same days (do you both have 260+ contributions over your working life? Those with less than 260 contributions only get JB for 9 months whereas those with more get 12 months).

If using 26 or 52 weeks wouldn't make a difference, then your appeal is probably doomed to failure. If it would make a difference, ask for a review of your claim. They will tell you that they can't review it because it has gone to appeal, but they are supposed to review your file anyway when you submit an appeal, so insist that this is done and make representations, in writing, that you want a different period used for the calculation. Of course, to do this you first need a written statement of how the thing was calculated in the first place. They should provide this to you, if they don't then you can request your file from the Department under the Freedom of Information office.

For any weeks that you are under the one or two days employment and therefore eligible for a payment, if they have closed your file, then you can simply submit a new Jobseekers Benefit application, although it should link to your previous claim if there hasn't been more than 26 weeks since that.

Find out which day the 'Casual' Section of your local SW Office sits and go and speak to them in person. Its sometimes a question of persistance on behalf of the Claimant. Best of luck.

Also, you must be considered as a part-time worker as opposed to a casual worker for this rule to be applied. If you consider yoursellf a casual worker, you would want to know why they thought differently. This could form another ground for your appeal.

Check out here to see what the difference is between part-time and casual workers and about being reclassified as a casual worker http://www.welfare.ie/EN/OperationalGuidelines/Pages/jb_jobseekben.aspx#reclass

Thank you so much for such an informative reply, I realy appreciate the time you put into it.

I am working 20yrs with same company and OH aprox 28 yrs with same company so plenty of PRSI contributions, since going on short-time in Aug 2009 we have always had at least 1 day per so we have had no break in insurance weeks.

In the last 13 weeks we have had
1 days work for 1 Week
2 days work for 2 Weeks
3 days work for 5 Weeks
4 days work for 1 Week
5 days work for 3 Weeks

Prior to that 13 weeks we have had
1 days work for 21 Weeks
2 days work for 1 Week
3 days work for 5 Weeks

Should I keep our information up-dated to the appeals office as thankfully we have had more work recently so that they have the most up-to-date information when they look at the case.

If I work one day I will be not get anything and my insurance record would be broken.

Unfotunately we will probably be back to very little work again once we hit Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb that is why I would like to get this sorted.