Jobseeker's Allowance and work

One of the main conditions for getting Jobseeker’s Allowance is that you must be unemployed. However, you do not have to be fully or totally unemployed – you must be unemployed for at least 4 days out of 7 consecutive days. You must also be available for and actively seeking work.

You can work and get Jobseeker’s Allowance if:

• Your days at work are reduced
• You are laid off work temporarily
• You are self-employed but your level of business and income has reduced
• You can only get part-time or casual work.

You must meet all the other conditions for Jobseeker’s Allowance. For example, you must pass a means test and you must also continue to look for full-time work.

Jobseeker’s Allowance is a means-tested payment so your household income must be below a certain level to qualify. Your income from work is assessed and can affect your Jobseeker's Allowance payment. However, only a certain amount of income from work is taken into account. This is called your means from work. If you have a spouse, civil partner or cohabitant their income from work or other sources is also taken into account and can affect your Jobseeker’s Allowance payment.

Other sources of income can also affect your Jobseeker's Allowance payment. Jobseeker’s Allowance is not taxable.

Here we show you how to calculate your means from employment (not self-employment). You can find out how income from self-employment is assessed in our document Self-employment and unemployment.

Assessable earnings from work

The following items are always deducted from your gross earnings to get your assessable earnings from work:

• PRSI (social insurance contributions)
• Union dues
• Superannuation (pension)
• PRSAs (Personal Retirement Savings Accounts)
• AVCs (Additional Voluntary Contributions).

You cannot deduct income tax or Universal Social Charge.

There are 2 stages to calculating how work will affect your Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Stage 1: Find out if you have an entitlement to Jobseeker’s Allowance

First, you must find out if you have an entitlement to Jobseeker’s Allowance.

To do this take your assessable weekly earnings and deduct €20 per day for each day you have worked up to a maximum of €60 (3 days). Next get 60% of the balance. This amount is your weekly means from work.

Assessable weekly earnings - €20 per day = total x 60% = weekly means from work.

You then work out what the maximum Jobseeker’s Allowance payment for your situation would be. You get this by adding together the maximum payment for yourself plus any increases for a qualified adult and any qualified children. If your weekly means are less than this figure then your daily means are calculated to find the actual amount of Jobseeker’s Allowance you will get.

If your weekly means from all sources are greater than the maximum Jobseeker’s Allowance payment for your situation then you will not get Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Stage 2: Calculate how work will affect your Jobseeker’s Allowance

If you are entitled to Jobseeker’s Allowance, you then calculate how work will affect your payment.

1. Calculate your average daily earnings

To calculate your average daily earnings get your total weekly assessable earnings from employment and divide by the number of days you worked that week (including Sunday).

Total weekly earnings ÷ number of days worked = average daily earnings.

2. Next calculate your daily means from work

Deduct €20 from your average daily earnings. Next, calculate 60% of this figure to get your daily means from work.

For example:

Tom earns €300 for 3 days work.

€300 ÷ 3 days = €100 (Tom’s average daily earnings)

€100 - €20 = €80

€80 x 60% = €48 (Tom’s daily means from work)

3. Finally, find your weekly means from work

To find your weekly means from work, multiply your daily means from work by the number of days worked.

Daily means from work x number of days worked = weekly means from work.

For example:

Tom’s daily means from work is €48

€48 x 3 days worked = €144 (Tom’s weekly means from work).

Public holidays

If you work part-time and you are paid for a public holiday (whether you work on that day or not) this is counted as a day of work. If you are claiming a jobseeker’s payment for a period which includes a public holiday and you do not qualify for a payment from your employer, then you can qualify for a jobseeker’s payment for that day.

If you get paid for a public holiday and don't work that day, it will still be included in the number of days worked to find your weekly means from work. Depending on your means, you can continue to get Jobseeker’s Allowance for the other days you do not work. If you work more than 3 days in a week you do not qualify for JA for that week.

How much Jobseeker’s Allowance will I get?

Subtract your weekly means from all sources from the maximum Jobseeker’s Allowance payment for your situation to find out how much Jobseeker’s Allowance you will get.

The maximum weekly rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance for your situation is the full rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance and any increases for your adult dependant and child dependants. If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is getting a social welfare payment in their own right, an increase for a qualified adult is not included and you will only get a half-rate increase for each qualified child.

If you have other means in addition to means from work they will also be taken into account and will affect how much Jobseeker’s Allowance you will get.

Worksheet

You may find our Worksheet to help you calculate your means from work for Jobseeker's Allowance useful.

If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant is getting their own social welfare payment in their own right, you cannot get an Increase for a Qualified Adult with your JA payment. This does not apply to the following payments; Child Benefit, Disablement Pension, guardian's payments, Supplementary Welfare Allowance, Domiciliary Care Allowance or half-rate Carer's Allowance, or if they are on a Further Education and Training (FET) or VTOS course and getting a payment.

This means that the maximum you can be paid is the maximum Jobseeker’s Allowance payment for a single person plus a half-rate allowance for each qualified child. (Your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant will get a half-rate payment for each qualified child with their payment.)

50% of your combined means are taken into account in the means test for your Jobseeker’s Allowance - in other words your combined means are halved. (The other half will be taken into account in the means test for your partner's payment if your partner is getting a means-tested payment.)

However, if you are claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and your spouse or partner is getting one of the social welfare payments listed below, the total amount paid cannot be more than would be payable if only one of you was claiming and the other was an adult dependant.

• Jobseeker's Allowance
• Farm Assist
• Illness Benefit
• Disablement Pension (when paid with Injury Benefit or Incapacity Supplement)
• Injury Benefit
• Invalidity Pension
• Partial Capacity Benefit
• State Pension (Non-Contributory)
• State Pension (Contributory)
• Jobseeker's Benefit

Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit

If your spouse, civil partner, or cohabitant is getting Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit (JPRB), it will be assessed in the JA means test.

Half of your partner’s Jobseeker’s Pay-Related Benefit (JPRB) payment is assessed as means against your JA (which is the full JA personal rate and half-rate Child Support Payments for any child dependents).

If this assessment results in your combined household income from both JA and JPRB to fall below the family rate of Jobseeker’s Allowance for your situation, your JA will be increased. It will be increased by the difference between your combined jobseeker’s payments and the JA rate for your family. (The family rate of JA is the full personal rate and any full-rate increases for adult and child dependants.)

Once JPRB has been assessed and your JA rate established, then any other means is deducted from your JA rate.

Only 50% of your combined means are taken into account in the means test for your Jobseeker’s Allowance - in other words your combined means are halved.

Your Jobseeker’s Allowance claim is reviewed every 13 weeks to reflect changes in your partner’s JPRB rate.

What if my partner is on an employment scheme?

You can claim an increase for your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant if they started a Community Employment (CE) scheme before 1 January 2023 or they are taking part in a Tús or Gateway scheme. Their earnings from the scheme are assessed in the same way as earnings from work (and your combined means are not halved) - see 'Spouse, civil partner's, cohabitant's income from work' below.

If your spouse, civil partner or cohabitant started a CE scheme on or after 1 January 2023, your means will be halved. You can find more about how CE earnings are assessed in the means test for Jobseeker's Allowance.

Your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's income from employment is assessed in the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance.

Their income from work is assessed in the same way as your income from work (if any). To work out what your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's means from work is:

• Deduct €20 per day from your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's assessable earnings for each day worked up to a maximum of €60 (including Sunday)
• Next get 60% of the balance. This is assessed as his or her weekly means from work.

Assessable weekly earnings - €20 per day (maximum €60 for 3 days work) = total x 60% = weekly means from work.

Your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's income from self-employment is fully assessed in the means test for Jobseeker’s Allowance and there are no disregards.

Earnings are assessed as gross income less work related expenses over 12 months. The expected annual earnings from self-employment is divided by 52 to find your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's weekly means from self-employment.

Getting Jobseeker's Allowance before 26 September 2007

If you were getting Jobseeker's Allowance before 26 September 2007 and you continue to be in payment, your income and your spouse's, civil partner's or cohabitant's income may be assessed differently.