Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 Art. 68KBEntitlement to benefit

68KB. (1) Subject to this Act, a person shall be entitled to jobseeker’s pay related benefit in respect of a period beginning on a Monday and ending on the Sunday following that Monday where—

(a) at the beginning of that period, the person is—

(i) under pensionable age, or

(ii) a person born on or after 1 January 1958, who has attained pensionable age but has neither attained the age of 70 years nor been awarded a State pension (contributory),

(b) the person satisfies the contribution conditions in or under section 68KD,

(c) subject to subsection (2), the person—

(i) is unemployed for the entirety of that period and proves such unemployment in the prescribed manner, or

(ii) subject to regulations under section 68KC(2), sustains a substantial loss of employment during that period and proves such loss in the prescribed manner,

and

(d) the unemployment or loss, as the case may be, referred to in paragraph (c) begins on or after the relevant date,

and where a person is so entitled in relation to such a period, the period shall be referred to in this Chapter as an ‘applicable week’.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c)—

(a) a person shall not be considered to be unemployed or to have sustained a substantial loss of employment unless—

(i) the person is capable of work,

(ii) the person is, or by reason of participating in an activity prescribed for the purposes of this subsection and subject to the conditions that may be prescribed, is deemed to be, or is exempted from being required to be, available for employment, and

(iii) the person is genuinely seeking, but is unable to obtain, suitable employment having regard to the person’s age, physique, education, normal occupation, place of residence and family circumstances,

and

(b) a person shall not be considered to be unemployed where the person, during a period referred to in subsection (1)—

(i) engages in work in circumstances prescribed under section 68KC(1)(b), or

(ii) subject to regulations under section 68KC(4), carries out work of a casual nature.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (1)(c), a person may prove unemployment or loss, and may make a declaration for that purpose, by means of an electronic communication in the prescribed manner.