The current system of establishing if a person is genuinely seeking work is well established and based on a number of steps that have to be taken by all customers in order to satisfy the Department that they are actively seeking work.
These steps may include making oral, written or on-line applications for work, researching job vacancies, availing of reasonable training opportunities, acting on the advice given by a case officer or taking steps to become self-employed.
All customers must be in a position to show that they have taken reasonable steps to secure employment and provide examples of such steps. These steps will vary from person to person having regard to their age, education, physique, location and family circumstances.
In determining what are reasonable steps, the deciding officer (DO) considers the nature and conditions of the employment sought and has regard to the individual circumstances of the person concerned in examining the steps taken to seek employment.
When deciding whether a person has made genuine efforts to seek employment, a DO considers all the circumstances, taking into account a person’s skills, qualification and work experience, period(s) of unemployment, the efforts made to seek employment, the availability and location of vacancies and the person’s family circumstances.
Every case is decided based on the individual circumstances of the case. Where a customer is not satisfied with the decision of the DO, this decision can be appealed to the Social Welfare Appeals Office.
