Thousands of workers could be eligible for an additional €308 as an add-on to their wages.
The Department of Social Protection has stated that if a worker is employed for three days a week or less, they could still be entitled to Jobseeker's Allowance.
Workers across the country are being asked to check if they can avail of the additional funds, which could bring a significant boost to their income, reports RSVP.
Jobseekers Benefit can be availed of if the person's days at works are reduced due to a lack of work, if they are part time workers (including week on, week off, work), if they get casual or part time work or if they have subsidiary employment.
Systematic short-time workers
For those who work full-time but short-time working is introduced by your employer, you could potentially avail of Jobseeker’s Benefit (JB). Reduced working hours on a temporary basis is called "systematic short-time working."
For systematic short-time workers the social welfare week is based on 5 days. This means that days worked and days of unemployment added together cannot be more than 5.
| Number of days worked | Effective days of unemployment | Weekly payment for a single person | Weekly payment for a couple with 1 child under 12 |
| 1 | 4 | €166.40 | €308.80 |
| 2 | 3 | €124.80 | €231.60 |
| 3 | 2 | €83.20 | €154.40 |
If you work 4 days you are no longer entitled to claim JB (because you must be unemployed for 4 out of 7 days).
Part time workers
Where a Jobseeker's Benefit recipient is working for part of a week, the amount paid is based on a 5-day week.
This means that for each day that a person is employed, 1/5th of the normal rate of Jobseeker's Benefit is deducted from their payment.
| Days worked | Effective days of unemployment | Weekly payment for a single person | Weekly payment for a couple with 1 child under 12 |
| 0 | 6 | €208 | €386 |
| 1 | 5 | €166.40 | €308.80 |
| 2 | 4 | €124.80 | €231.60 |
| 3 | 3 | €83.20 | €154.40 |
Casual work
You can avail of Jobseeker’s Benefit if you can only get part-time or casual work.
However, you must be unemployed for at least 4 days out of a period of 7 consecutive days and continue to look for full-time employment.
For each day you are employed, 1/5th of the normal rate of Jobseeker's Benefit is deducted from your weekly payment, provided that you are unemployed for at least 4 days out of a period of 7 consecutive days.
Subsidiary work
You will not get Jobseeker's Benefit for any day you are employed or self-employed. It is possible to do some subsidiary work and still avail of the benefit for the day in question.
Subsidiary work is classed as work "that could have been done while you were in full-time employment and outside your normal working hours."
This could be if you may work a full-time job during the day and have a part-time job at night.
The part-time job is classed as "subsidiary or secondary employment" where you were able to do the part-time work without it getting in the way of your full-time job for at least 6 months.
If you have subsidiary employment, you should always check with the Department of Social Protection to see if your Jobseeker's Benefit could potentially be affected.
Further information on the breakdown and the terms and conditions on Jobseeker's Benefit can be found here.
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