Working for Work : Chapter 4 : Welfare to Work

Re-qualifiying for Jobseekers Benefit

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If you engage in part-time work while in receipt of Jobseeker's Benefit you may re-qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit if you: -

  • Have used up your full entitlement to Jobseeker's Benefit on your current claim -
  • Have paid 13 class A PRSI contributions (i.e. worked for 13 weeks in insurable employment) after you have claimed Jobseeker's Benefit for more than 156 days -
  • Satisfy all other statutory conditions (see Chapter 1).

If you are a part-time or systematic short-time worker you are specifically required to have suffered a 'substantive loss of employment' in order to re-qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit. The Department 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 the purposes of re-qualifying for JB the Department of Social Protection define Systematic short-time and Part-time employment as follows:

Systematic short-time employment occurs when an employee normally works full-time in a firm but because of a temporary reduction of work in the business, his or her hours per week are reduced for a temporary period.

Part-time employment occurs when an employee normally works full-time in a firm but because of a temporary reduction of work in the business, his or her hours per week are reduced and there is no expectation that they will return to full-time employment.

Casual workers can also seek to re-qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit under these conditions. Casual workers are not required to have suffered a substantive loss of employment to re-qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit, but must meet all other statutory conditions. While there is no definition of 'casual employees' in employment law in Ireland, for the purposes of re-qualifying for Jobseeker's Benefit casual employment can generally be defined as follows:

Casual employment occurs when an employee has irregular hours of work, with no set pattern of hours or days and is called upon to work as and when required. For more information on re-qualifying for Jobseeker's Benefit contact the INOU on (01) 856 0088.

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