Working for Work : Chapter 4 : Welfare to Work

Work and Secondary Benefits

A person who is working part-time may qualify for a reduced payment in the following schemes - Jobseeker's Allowance, Jobseeker's Benefit, One Payment Family Payment, Disability Allowance and Carer's Allowance. A reduced payment may also apply for a Qualified Adult on a person's claim.

Each scheme has its own conditions as to how it treats the number of hours/days worked and how money earned from working is assessed. Secondary benefits may be affected by income from working.

Rent and Mortgage Interest Supplement

Working under 30 hours per week

If you receive a Rent or Mortgage Interest Supplement and take-up part-time work (under 30 hours) the first €75 of your wages will not be counted as means against your payment. In addition, 25% of income over that €75 is not counted, but the remaining 75% of the income is counted against the Rent/Mortgage Supplement.

Example: Income from work = €150

Step 1: disregard the first €75 = balance counted €75

Step 2: then disregard 25% of balance = €18.75 (€75 - 25%)

Step 3: total disregard = €93.75 (€75 + €18.75).

Assessable Income = €56.25 (€150 - €93.75).

 

Reduced Social Welafare payment: If a person is on a reduced basic Social Welfare payment the additional income disregard is applied to income in excess of the basic SWA rate appropriate to your family size.

Working Over 30 hours per week

You will not normally qualify for a Rent Supplement if you work over 30 hours per week (full-time employment), unless you are assessed as 'in need of housing' under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) through the local authority.

Once on the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), recipients rent will be calculated using the Differential Rent Schemes operated by their Local Authorities

Maintenance and Rent Supplement

Maintenance is assessed as additional household income and the household income disregard is used to find out how much of your maintenance is taken into account as means.

For example, if your only additional income is maintenance, all of your maintenance payment up to €95.23 per week is assessed in full. The next €75, which is any maintenance between €95.23 and €170.23, is not taken into account. 25% of all maintenance over €170.23 is taken into account.

Medical Card

If you have been receiving an unemployment payment or a One Parent Family Payment for 12 months or more you can take a full-time job and keep your Medical Card for three years. The amount you earn from work will not affect your entitlement to keep your medical card.

If you take up full-time employment you will retain your medical card for 3 years from the date you start work. If you take up part-time employment the three-year period starts from the date your income exceeds the relevant medical card guideline

If you have not been receiving an unemployment payment or a One Parent Family Payment for 12 months or more and take up part-time employment your entitlement to a 'full' medical card may be affected by your income. If you are not entitled to a 'full' medical card you may be entitled to the GP Visit Card. See Chapter 2 for more information on the Medical Card.

Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance (BTSCFA)

The Back to School Clothing and Footwear Allowance helps towards the cost of uniforms and footwear for school children. The scheme operates from 1st June to 30th September each year. This is a means tested payment and income from the following sources will be taken into consideration - full-time or part-time employment, the Back to Work Allowance scheme, Community Employment (CE), Job Initiative (JI), the Back To Work Enterprise Allowance, Revenue Job Assist and the Community Services Programme.

Fuel Allowance

You will continue to qualify for a Fuel Allowance as long as you continue to receive some of your Jobseeker's Allowance, Disability Allowance or Carer's Allowance or living with other people getting one of the qualifying payments who would also be eligible for a Fuel Allowance in their own right.

If you are in receipt of a non-means tested payment (i.e. State Contributory Pension, State Pension (Transition), Widow/er's Contributory Pension, Blind Pension or Invalidity Pension) and receive a Fuel Allowance, any assessable income of up to €100 generated by either you, or any member of your household, will not be counted. If you have a combined assessable income of more than €100 you may not qualify for the Fuel Allowance.

Other Considerations

The following are not strictly Secondary Benefits. However, the impact of employment on Local Authority Differential Rents and on access to SWA payments is often a consideration for persons in receipt of welfare payments in making the transition from Welfare to Work.

Local Authority Rent

Local Authority Rent - Differential Rent Scheme

Local authority rents are related to a percentage of household income. Therefore any increase in the household income could result in an increase in rent payable to the local authority.

Exceptional or Urgent Needs Payments (SWA)

Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP's)

This payment is not normally available to persons in full-time employment. Persons participating in Back to Education or Back to Work schemes may apply.

Urgent Needs Payment (UNP)

This is a special payment available to all persons to meet an Urgent Need, for example, arising from a fire or flood - see Chapter 2 for details. There is no automatic entitlement to this payment.

Last Updated: 31/08/2011 ^ back to top