Voluntary work abroad & effects on JSA

Hi all,

It would be great to get some insights and opinions on my below querey...

I'm in the process of organising volunteer work abroad in Peru for just over 3 weeks. I will not get paid for the work and it's purely me doing it on a voluntary basis.

I'm on JSA at the moment and I'm wondering what the process is with Social Welfare regarding:

1. Sign-on Day ( I will miss my next sign on day... do i need to inform them that I am going abroad to conduct volunteer work)

2. Will my JSA be stopped while I am away ( I know while I'm away that I wont be eligible for work and hence will I not recieve any JSA for the period in which I was away)

3. Will I need to use my 12 day holiday allowance?

4. What is the process if I miss my next sign on day and hence do I just turn up on my next sign on day and will there be issues with payment from then on or do I need to contact my social welfare department and say I'm back again from voluntary work and that I'm eligible and looking for work again and hence payments can continue to commence?


Appreciate any thoughts from people on this matter.

You are able to do some voluntary work in Ireland without affecting your benefits.

What you're going on is a 3 week holiday. JSA allows you two weeks, therefore you are not genuinely seeking employment during the third week and you won't get paid JSA.

http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Pages/JobseekersVoluntaryWorkOption.aspx - voluntary work
http://www.welfare.ie/EN/Pages/jajbfaq.aspx#q18 - holiday abroad

Thanks for the quick reply.

So I can basically use up my 12 days holiday entitlement for this instead and just lose out on one weeks JSA?

Is there any issue with missing my sign on day? i.e Can I sign back on when I return and will there be any issues in relation to payment of JSA from then on.

Would you know if there is any delays with recieving JSA again or is it a simple process of saying I'm back in the country and eligible to work again.

You need to complete a form to take the 2 weeks off - see the link above. That way you won't need to worry about the sign on date.

I don't know whether there will be a delay in reapplying.