Written Answers - Unemployment Benefit Query.
Jim Mitchell
Question:
90
Mr. J. Mitchell
asked the
Minister for Social Welfare
if he will give details of the changes in the law or policy affecting the payment of unemployment benefit to workers on a week-on, week-off arrangement with specific reference to a case (details supplied): and if in view of the facts of this case, he will amend the regulations so as not to leave those workers worse off.
Unemployment benefit is limited in duration to 15 months benefit in any one claim and before benefit can become payable again 13 PRSI contributions must be paid.
Prior to 1968 the maximum duration of entitlement to unemployment benefit was 156 days — six months. A claimant who had been paid his full entitlement to 156 days unemployment benefit could not requalify for benefit until 13 contributions were paid by him after the 156th day of unemployment, the last day of his claim.
The duration for payment of unemployment benefit was extended to 312 days — 12 months — in 1968 and to 390 days — 15 months — in 1976. However, the requalifying condition was not changed in that contributions paid after 156 days benefit counted towards requalifying for benefit. This resulted in persons, in intermittent employment, who had been paid their full entitlement to benefit being able to requalify for benefit on foot of social insurance contributions which had been paid before their entitlement has ceased. In effect, this operated to negative the general requalification condition imposed on fully unemployed persons who have to find insurable employment for 13 weeks after the end of their claim before they can requalify.
This anomaly was removed by this year's Social Welfare Act which now requires that the 13 requalifying contributions must be paid by all claimants after the 390th day of payment of unemployment benefit thus bringing the treatment of persons in intermittent employment into line with claimants generally. This arrangement is also in line with that applying to disability benefit.
People working in a continuous week-on, week-off arrangement will requalify for unemployment benefit on payment of 13 contributions after exhausting 390 days benefit.
It should be pointed out that persons on a week-on, week-off arrangement are not at this time treated as other systematic short-time workers who are on a reduced working week. The latter are persons who for the time being work a reduced working week — usually two or three days. They are paid unemployment benefit for either two or three days only at a daily rate equal to one-fifth the weekly rate. They are not entitled to pay-related benefit.
Short-time workers on a week-on, week-off arrangement are not subject to these limitations on their entitlements. They also have certain advantages in relation to income tax in that their benefit is not regarded as taxable income and they are given tax-free allowances in respect of their weeks off which reduce their tax liability on their weeks at work.
