Below you
will find information on what to do if you have a period of unemployment or a
break in your wage payments due over Christmas. You cannot claim an earnings-related
allowance if you are not registered as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE
Office. It is therefore important that you register with the TE Office no later
than on the first day of your unemployment / unpaid period. This type of an
unpaid period is called a period comparable to a temporary layoff.
Is your contract coming to an end
around Christmas and are you starting a new job in January?
If your
full-time employment contract is coming to an end around Christmas and you are
starting a new job in January, you can start claiming an earnings-related
allowance once you have been unemployed for at least two full calendar weeks
(for example, if you become unemployed on 9 December 2021, you can submit
your application on 26 December 2021 at the earliest). If you are due to
be unemployed for less than two weeks, you can claim an earnings-related
allowance for the entire period of unemployment with a single application.
If you have
been employed on a part-time basis and claiming an earnings-related allowance
while working, you can submit your application at the normal time. If you are
starting a new job in January, remember to also enclose your new employment
contract.
Will your wage payments stop over
Christmas?
If your
employment contract stipulates that you will not be paid for the holidays (i.e.
a period comparable to a temporary layoff), you may be entitled to an
earnings-related allowance for this period.
If you are
employed on a part-time basis and you have been claiming an adjusted
earnings-related allowance while working, you can submit your application at
the normal time, even if the period covered by the application includes unpaid
leave. If you fulfil the eligibility criteria, you will be paid an adjusted
earnings-related allowance for the entire application period. Your allowance
will be adjusted based on your earnings in the whole period as normal.
If you work
full-time, you can submit your earnings-related allowance application once you
have been on a unpaid period for at least two full calendar weeks.
What supporting documents are
needed?
We often do
not know beforehand which supporting attachment is needed until we start to
process an application, and it is therefore impossible to say in advance what documents
you will need to supply.
Always
include a copy of your employment contract if you have not yet submitted it to
us. If you are starting a new job in January, also include a copy of your new
employment contract.
If you have
not been claiming an earnings-related allowance while employed and if you have
been paid for your work on an hourly basis, include a document of your weekly
working hours during the 26 weeks immediately preceding your unemployment to
prove that you fulfil the employment condition. You can find a template for
reporting your weekly working hours on our website under Help and support -> Forms.
More
information about the most commonly required supporting documents can be found
under Applying for earnings-related allowance.
Are you unsure as to whether or not
you are eligible for benefits?
If you are
not sure whether or not you are eligible for an earnings-related allowance
during your unpaid leave or unemployment, we recommend that you submit an
application anyway, and we can then check your eligibility. We also recommend
that you register as an unemployed jobseeker with the TE Office, as you cannot
claim an earnings-related allowance if you are not registered with the TE
Office.
You can read
more about the general eligibility criteria for an earnings-related allowance
on our website under Earnings-related allowance -> Right to earnings-related daily allowance.