Jobseeker's Allowance

Rules

To get Jobseeker's Allowance you must:

• Be unemployed (you must be fully unemployed or unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7)
• Be over 18 and under 66 years of age
• Be capable of work
• Be available for and genuinely seeking work
• Satisfy the means test
• Meet the Habitual Residence Condition

Unemployed

To get Jobseeker’s Allowance you must be unemployed. However, there are circumstances in which you can do some work and get Jobseeker’s Allowance. You can also take up to two weeks holiday in a year and continue to get your payment.

Part-time or casual work

If you get part-time or casual work (up to and including 3 days per week), you may still be paid a proportion of your Jobseeker's Allowance. However, you must show that you are trying to get full-time employment. If you have been getting long-term Jobseeker's Allowance (over 390 days or 15 months) and you take up part-time work for less than 24 hours a week you may be eligible for the Part-time Job Incentive Scheme (PTJI). This scheme allows you to take up part-time work and get a special weekly allowance instead of your jobseeker’s payment. Days of unemployment on Jobseeker's Benefit count towards the 390 days if your Jobseeker’s Benefit claim was immediately before the award of Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Reduced days at work

If your employer reduces your days at works to 3 days week or less, you may get Jobseeker's Allowance for the other days. You must meet the other conditions that apply to Jobseeker's Allowance, for example, you must satisfy a means test.

Lay off

A lay-off situation arises where your employer is unable to provide work for you, but believes this to be a temporary situation and tells you this before the work finishes. If you are laid off work you may get Jobseeker’s Allowance. You will not get Jobseeker’s Allowance for any day you are getting holiday pay.

Self-employment

If you are self-employed, you may be entitled to Jobseeker's Allowance, depending on your income from your business. You can find out out more about self-employment and unemployment on selfemployedsupports.ie. Self-employed farmers on a low income should apply for Farm Assist.

Voluntary work

You may be able to do voluntary work and continue to get Jobseeker's Allowance. You must continue to satisfy the conditions of the payment, which means that you must be available and looking for work. You must also get permission from a Deciding Officer at your Social Welfare Local Office. Find out more about voluntary work and social welfare payments.

On strike

If you are on strike, you will not be considered unemployed and will not get Jobseeker's Allowance. However, if you are out of work as a result of a strike, for example, you have been laid off because of the strike, you may get Jobseeker's Allowance. You may get Jobseeker's Allowance if you are "not participating in or directly interested in the trade dispute which caused the stoppage at work".

If you are on strike your family may get Supplementary Welfare Allowance.

Capable of work

You are capable of work unless you can produce medical evidence to prove that you are not able to work. If you have spent some time incapable of work 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 Disability Allowance or Illness Benefit.

Available for work

The Department of Social Protection’s Operational Guidelines state that you are considered available for employment, if:

• You state that you are available for work
• You do all that is asked to show compliance with this availability condition
• There is no evidence to suggest the contrary

Essentially the Department of Social Protection considers that you are available for employment if you are prepared to accept any offers of suitable employment immediately.

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

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

If a Deciding Officer thinks that that you have placed unreasonable restrictions, you will be interviewed and given the opportunity to respond. Note that if you refuse a suitable offer of work you can be disqualified from Jobseeker’s Allowance. If you are looking after a sick or elderly person you may be entitled to Carer's Allowance.

You can read more about the available for work condition in the Department of Social Protection’s Operational Guidelines. See also 'Further information' below.

Genuinely looking for work

You must also show that you are genuinely looking for work. The Operational Guidelines state that a day is not treated as a day of unemployment unless on that day you are genuinely seeking suitable work.

You must be able to show that you are making genuine efforts to secure employment. You need to provide examples of such steps. Steps which would indicate that you are considered to be genuinely seeking work may include:

• Making oral or written applications for work
• Looking for information on the availability of employment from employers, advertisements and employment agencies
• Taking up reasonable training opportunities
• Acting on the advice given by a Job Facilitator, a FÁS adviser or other placement agency such as the Local Employment Service (LES)
• Taking positive, well advised steps towards establishing yourself in self-employment such as researching possible areas of self-employment
• Preparing business plans for a self-employment project
• Attending relevant "start your own business" courses or seeking information, advice or guidance in relation to any of these steps

You can read more about the genuinely looking for work condition in the Department of Social Protection's Operational Guidelines.

Means test

Jobseeker's Allowance is a means-tested payment. Your means must be below a certain level to get Jobseeker’s Allowance. A means test looks at all your sources of income including your spouse’s, civil partner’s or cohabitant's. However, some income may not be taken into account. (A cohabitant is a person living in an intimate and committed relationship with a person of the same or opposite sex who is not that person’s spouse, civil partner, or a close relative.)

Your total household means is deducted from the maximum payment for your household's circumstances (usually this is the personal rate including any increases for adult and child dependants) to find the actual amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance you are entitled to. Find out more about the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Your means are halved if your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is getting a social welfare payment in his or her own right* or is on a FÁS or VTOS course and getting an allowance. If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is getting a payment in his or her own right you will not get an Increase for a Qualified Adult but you will get a half-rate increase for each qualified child.

*Except for Child Benefit, Domiciliary Care Allowance, Disablement Pension, Guardian's Payment, Supplementary Welfare Allowance and half-rate Carer's Allowance.

If you are 24 years of age or under and you are living with a parent or a step-parent in the family home, some of your parents' income will also be taken into account in the assessment for Jobseeker's Allowance. The Department call this an assessment of the 'benefit andprivilege' you get from living with your parents. Find out more about how living with your parents is assessed in the means test.

Spouse, civil partner or cohabitant working

If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant works it can affect your Jobseeker's Allowance. Their earnings from insurable employment are assessed in the same way as your earnings from part-time or casual work. Find out more about work and Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Disqualification from Jobseeker's Allowance

You may be disqualified from getting Jobseeker's Allowance for 9 weeks if you:

• Left work voluntarily and without just cause
• Lost your job through misconduct
• Refused an offer of suitable alternative employment or suitable training

Suitable employment does not include employment in a job that is vacant because of a trade dispute. In addition, the employment must be suitable, having regard to your age, sex, physique, education, normal occupation, where you live, rate of pay offered and your family circumstances.

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.

If you are:

• Age 25 or over, your payment can be reduced to €144
• Age 22-24, your payment can be reduced to €111
• Age 18-22, your payment can be reduced to €75

Students

If you have just left school you cannot get Jobseeker's Allowance. To get Jobseeker's Allowance you must have been out of school for three months and you must be at least 18 years of age.

Short-term employment or training

The Department of Social Protection operates a fast-tracking system for people who sign off a jobseeker's payment to take up work for a short period (up to 8 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. Your Rent Supplement or Mortgage Interest Supplement claim can also be suspended for up to 8 weeks.

Work experience for jobseekers

JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme provides work experience for people who have been getting a jobseeker’s payment or signing for credits for at least 3 months. See our document on JobBridge. The Work Placement Programme provides 9 months’ work experience for graduates and other unemployed people. For more information contact your local employment services office.