Rules

To qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit you must:

• Be unemployed (you must be fully unemployed or unemployed for at least 3 days out of 6)
• Be under 66 years of age
• Have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions
• Be capable of work
• Be available for and genuinely seeking work
• Have had a substantial loss of employment and as a result be unemployed for at least 3 days out of 6.

Social insurance (PRSI) contributions

To qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit, you must pay Class A, H or P PRSI contributions. Class A is the one paid by most private sector employees. Class H is paid by soldiers, reservists and temporary army nurses, who do not qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit until they have left the army. To qualify you need:

• At least 104 weeks PRSI paid since you first started work

And

• Have 39 weeks PRSI paid or credited in the relevant tax year (a minimum of 13 weeks must be paid contributions*)

Or

• Have 26 weeks PRSI paid in the relevant tax year and 26 weeks PRSI paid in the tax year immediately before the relevant tax year.

*If you do not have 13 paid contributions in the relevant tax year, you must have paid 13 contributions in any of the following years:

• The 2 tax years before the relevant tax year
• The last complete tax year
• The current tax year.

The Relevant Tax Year is the second last complete tax year before the year in which your claim is made. So, for claims made in 2012, the Relevant Tax Year is 2010.

There are a number of circumstances in which you can be awarded credited contributions. For example, pre-entry credits are given when you start employment for the first time in your working life. However, you can only qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit when you have actually paid 104 contributions. Credits are also awarded while you are getting certain social welfare payments, including Jobseeker's Benefit (provided it is for 6 days), Jobseeker's Allowance or Illness Benefit.

Contributions you have paid in other member states of the EU/EEA will be added to your Irish contributions. If you are applying for Jobseeker's Benefit and need the contributions paid in another EU/EEA country to help you qualify, then your last contribution must have been in Ireland.

Capable of work

You are capable of work unless you can prove otherwise. You must produce medical evidence to prove that you are not able to work. If you have been incapable of work for some time you must produce a final medical certificate to prove that you are now fit for work.

If you are ill and incapable of work you may be entitled to Illness Benefit.

Available for and genuinely seeking work

You must be available for work and actively looking for work to qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit. You may be asked to show evidence that you are actively seeking work. For example, letters showing job applications or failure to get a job.

Unavailable for work

You can be regarded as not being available for work and not entitled to Jobseeker's Benefit, if you put unreasonable restrictions on the following:

• The nature of the employment
• The hours of work
• Rate of pay
• The duration of the employment
• The location of the employment

In any case where a Deciding Officer is of the opinion that you have placed unreasonable restrictions, you will be interviewed and given the opportunity to respond.

If you are looking after a sick or elderly person you may be entitled to Carer's Benefit.

Reduction in payment

The Social Welfare Act 2010 provides that your payment can be reduced if you:

• Refuse an appropriate offer of training by an officer of the Department of Social Protection or FÁS
• Decline an intervention under the Employment Action Plan (EAP), do not attend EAP meetings with a FÁS officer under the EAP or drop out of the EAP process

Community Employment Schemes are not considered to be FÁS training opportunities.

Loss of employment

You must have suffered a substantial loss of employment in any period of six consecutive days to be eligible for Jobseeker's Benefit. This means that you must have lost at least one day's employment and as a result of this loss be unemployed for at least 3 days out of 6 days. Your earnings must also have been reduced because of the loss of employment. You may be disqualified from getting Jobseeker's Benefit for 9 weeks if you:

• Left work voluntarily and without a reasonable cause
• Lost your job through misconduct
• Refused an offer of suitable alternative employment or suitable training
• Are aged under 55 and get a redundancy payment of more than €50,000. The exact length of your disqualification (up to nine weeks) will depend on the amount of redundancy payment you received - see below.

Work and Jobseeker's Benefit

To get Jobseeker's Benefit you must be unemployed or have lost at least one day's employment and as a result be unemployed for at least 3 days out of 6 days. You may continue to get Jobseeker's Benefit if you can only find part-time or casual work. More information is available about work and Jobseeker’s Benefit.

Redundancy

If you are under 55 and get a redundancy payment of more than €50,000 you are disqualified from claiming Jobseeker's Benefit. The table below shows how long you may be disqualified for. The length of the disqualification is at the discretion of the deciding officer (who can take your circumstances into account). Any period of disqualification is subtracted from your total Jobseeker's Benefit entitlement. So if you are disqualified for 3 weeks (which is 18 days payment) your JB claim starts on day 19.

On strike

If you are on strike, you are not considered unemployed and not entitled to Jobseeker's Benefit. However, your family may get Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

If you are out of work as a result of a strike (if, for example, you have been laid off), you are however in a different position. You may qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit if you are "not participating in or directly interested in the trade dispute which caused the stoppage at work".

Duration of Jobseeker's Benefit

Since 15 October 2008, if you have at least 260 paid contributions you may be paid Jobseeker's Benefit for up to 12 months (312 days). If you have less than 260 paid contributions you may be paid Jobseeker's Benefit for up to 9 months (234 days). If you are under 18, you will only get Jobseeker's Benefit for a maximum of 6 months (156 days).

Re-qualifying for Jobseeker's Benefit

If you have used up your entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit (JB), you may re-qualify by working and paying the appropriate PRSI contributions for at least 13 weeks. If you are working and getting JB, as in the case of systematic short-time workers and some part-time workers, the 13 weeks paid contributions can begin once you have claimed JB for 156 days.

You must have suffered a substantial loss of employment to re-qualify for JB, unless you are a casual worker. If you have lost your job you will have suffered a substantial loss of employment. If you are a part-time or systematic short-time worker DSP will look at your pattern of employment over the last 13 weeks or another representative period to find out whether you have suffered a substantial loss of employment.

For example, if you are getting JB and working 3 days each week as a systematic short-time worker or a part-time worker and your employment pattern has not changed during the course of your JB claim, you will not have suffered a substantial loss of employment and will not re-qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit. However, if your JB claim ends and your 3 day week working week is then reduced to a 2 day week, you will have suffered a substantial loss of employment and may re-qualify for Jobseeker’s Benefit.

Short-term employment or training

The Department of Social Protection operates a fast-tracking system for people who sign off to take up work for a short period (up to 4 weeks) or to go on a short training course (up to 8 weeks). This ensures that your payment is re-instated without delay. It is important that you inform your local social welfare office in advance that you are taking up work or training.

Claiming for dependents with Jobseeker's Benefit

If your spouse’s, civil partner or cohabitant is dependent on you or is on a low income you may be able to claim an increase in your payment for him or her. This increase is called an Increase for a Qualified Adult (IQA). If your adult dependant is earning €100 or less you will get the maximum IQA. If he or she is earning between €100 and €310 you will get a reduced rate of IQA. If your adult dependant is earning more than €310 you will not get an increase in your Jobseeker’s Benefit for your adult dependant.

You can look at our documents on Claiming for an adult dependant and Jobseeker's Benefit and work to find out more. If you have dependant children you may also be able to claim an increase in your payment for them.