Jobseeker's Benefit

How to qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit

To qualify for Jobseeker's Benefit (JB) you must be aged under 66 and:

• Be unemployed (you must be fully unemployed or unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7)
• Have had a substantial loss of employment and as a result be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7
• Be capable of work
• Be available for and genuinely seeking work
• Have enough social insurance (PRSI) contributions

You can read more about the conditions for getting a jobseeker's payment and about the employment services the Department of Social Protection offers to jobseekers.

Jobseeker's Benefit and work

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 4 days out of 7 days. You may continue to get Jobseeker's Benefit if you can only find part-time or casual work.

Where a Jobseeker's Benefit recipient is working for part of a week, their entitlement will be based on a 5-day payment week. This means that for each day that a person is employed, 1/5th of the normal rate of Jobseeker's Benefit is deducted. If they get part-time work for 2 days, they will get 3/5ths of the normal Jobseeker's Benefit for that week and if they get part-time work for 3 days, they will get 2/5ths of the normal rate of Jobseeker’s Benefit for the week. You must still be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7 to claim Jobseeker's Benefit.

There is an exemption from some of the rules for retained firefighters. More information is available about work and Jobseeker’s Benefit.

If you are getting JB you can use the Benefit of Work Ready Reckoner from the DSP to help you assess the financial consequences of taking up full-time work. The Reckoner works out the total amount you would receive on taking up full-time work (including any Working Family Payment) and compares this to your jobseeker's payment (including Rent Supplement).

Loss of employment

You must have suffered a substantial loss of employment in any period of 7 consecutive days to be eligible for Jobseeker's Benefit, (casual workers and retained firefighters with no other employment are exempt from this rule). 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 4 days out of 7. Your earnings must also have been reduced because of the loss of employment.

Pregnancy and Jobseeker's Benefit

There are some exceptions to the rules for pregnant women around the time of birth. You can read more in our document about pregnancy and social welfare payments.

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 of Class A, H or P PRSI paid contributions or at least 156 Class S PRSI contributions since you first started work

And

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

Or

• 26 weeks of A, H or P PRSI paid in the relevant tax year and 26 weeks of 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 2023, the relevant tax year is 2021.

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 Class A, H or P contributions or at least 156 Class S contributions. Credits are also awarded while you are getting certain social welfare payments, including Jobseeker's Benefit (provided it is for 6 days), Illness Benefit and, in some cases, Jobseeker's Allowance.

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 member state to help you qualify, then your last contribution must have been in Ireland. Read more about combining social insurance contributions from abroad.

Under the Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 2005 employers are obliged to register all employees for PRSI. Read more in our document on your Employer's duty to pay social insurance.

Disqualification

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 - if you have been on a penalty rate of JB for at least 21 days
• Are aged under 55 and get a redundancy payment of more than €50,000. The exact length of your disqualification (up to 9 weeks) will depend on the amount of redundancy payment you received.

Redundancy

If you are aged under 55 and get a redundancy payment of more than €50,000, you are disqualified from claiming Jobseeker's Benefit for a certain period of time. The table below shows how long you may be disqualified for. 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.

If you are moving from PUP to Jobseeker's Benefit and got a redundancy payment while on PUP, the waiting period may be reviewed based on your circumstances.

How long is Jobseeker's Benefit paid?

Jobseeker's Benefit is paid for 9 months (234 days) for people with 260 or more Class A, H or P PRSI paid contributions. It is paid for 6 months (156 days) for people with fewer than 260 Class A, H or P PRSI paid contributions.

There are some special provisions for older jobseekers.

Re-qualifying for Jobseeker's Benefit

You can re-qualify for JB if:

• You have used up your full JB entitlement (either 9 or 6 months)

  and

• You have paid 13 PRSI contributions for at least 13 weeks (these contributions can be counted only after you have claimed at least 156 days (6 months) of JB)

However, if you are working and claiming JB (systematic short-time workers and part-time workers) you cannot simply continue your JB claim when it is exhausted since 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 when you exhaust your claim. 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.

Linking claims

If you claim JB for a period, sign off and then claim JB again within 26 weeks, your claim may be linked to the earlier claim. This means that your claim is not treated as a new claim and:

• You do not have to wait for 3 days before getting your payment
• The cumulative total of days from the previous claim is continued (so, for example, if you have used up 100 days of your total JB entitlement of 234 days you have 134 days remaining on your claim)
• The rate of JB is the same rate payable as on the previous claim, unless there has been a budgetary increase or change in family circumstances (such as a new child dependant).

If your JB claim does not link to a previous claim it is treated as a new claim. You must wait for 3 days before getting a payment and your cumulative total of days starts from the first day of payment.

You can read more about linking claims including information on linking to a different scheme (such as Illness Benefit) and linking to an earlier JB claim through a different scheme or period spent in training or on an employment scheme.

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 12 weeks) or to go on a short training course (up to 12 weeks). This ensures that your payment is re-instated without delay. It is important that you inform your Intreo Centre or local Social Welfare Branch Office in advance that you are taking up work or training. Your Rent Supplement claim can also be suspended for up to 12 weeks.