Maternity benefit and new employment?

whatdoicare

Heya, I'm just wondering, I went to citizens advice website there and can't seem to see anything regarding my situation.
I've been unemployed for more than three years (due to leaving a job to start another and the business going into liquidation before I could even start) but have just been offered a part time 12 hour contract. I'm not too sure if I can claim for the rest of the days yet but for the moment lets assume I can't (and to be honest if I can afford it I'd prefer to come off unemployment altogether).
Myself and the hubby would like to start a family at some point as we were putting off trying until I found some employment but we want to know, would I be entitled to any kind of Maternity benefit - just to get us through the few weeks that I can't work?
I have zero prsi credits to work off - how long would I have to work to build up enough? How does it even work?
Any help would be greatly appreciated - please don't refer me to citizens advice website as I've been on it and don't find it as clear as I'd like to be 100% sure.

annamcmahon

Hi. You need to 26 weeks worth of PRSI credit for the year before your baby is born or the year before. So I had a baby in Jan this year. I had no credits for 2010 because I was self-employed but had 26 weeks worth for 2009 so that counted. I was working for a company in 2009.
Give the maternity benefit section of the dept of social protection a ring to ask if you want to check. I rang them a few times and found them really helpful and courteous. The number is on the website.

Ayla

If you have no PRSI, and you have not worked for any of the last two years you are not entitled to any maternity benefit.

If you do get employment now, you have to work for at least 39 PRSI weeks within the year before your leave starts. This means that if you start work tomorrow, give yourself at least 2 weeks before you get preg.

Keep in mind that the amount of benefit you get is subject to your earnings, but shouldn't be less than €217.80/week. Having said that, I don't know how it works if you only work part-time.

I know you don't like the citizen's info site, but that's really the only place to get this type of info online that I know of. Otherwise, if you go into your local Social Welfare office they can talk you through it.

Moonbeam

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/maternity_benefit.html covers it all.

Ayla

annamcmahon wrote: »

Hi. You need to 26 weeks worth of PRSI credit for the year before your baby is born or the year before.

Sorry, that's not accurate. If you're working on 26 weeks, you need it for the relevant tax year (in this case, 2009) and the year before (2008):

At least 26 weeks PRSI paid in the relevant tax year and at least 26 weeks PRSI paid in the tax year immediately before the relevant tax year.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/maternity_benefit.html

Since the OP doesn't have previous years' work (in the relevant years) then her benefit would only be based on working 39 weeks out of the last 12 months (as in my last post).

whatdoicare

Moonbeam wrote: »

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/social_welfare/social_welfare_payments/social_welfare_payments_to_families_and_children/maternity_benefit.html covers it all.

No, it doesn't really - like I said, I was on the site, read it all, it didn't really answer my question to my satisfaction. It says 39 weeks in the 12 months before I go on leave - but how does that work with part time, is that still considered a week? If not, how many part time weeks do I have to work for it to be considered the same as 39 weeks? I want to be 100% clear when I start trying as I don't want to be caught out.

Ayla

Then call & talk to someone at social welfare/maternity benefit departments as suggested. I wouldn't trust strangers on the internet to nail anything down b/c we're only taking it from what we're reading online too. Good luck!

whatdoicare

Ayla wrote: »

Then call & talk to someone at social welfare/maternity benefit departments as suggested. I wouldn't trust strangers on the internet to nail anything down b/c we're only taking it from what we're reading online too. Good luck!

Oh yes, I will do that, of course but it's still nice to get some info before I start asking - in my own experience dealing with social welfare the people I have contacted didn't always fully know what I was entitled to until I informed them myself. It's never a harm to have info at hand to use as back up.
Thanks for the help and of course if anyone has first hand experience or know the facts, do let me know

Cat Melodeon

I worked part-time but my weekly credits were considered equivalent to those of someone working fulltime.

lonestargirl

Cat Melodeon wrote: »

I worked part-time but my weekly credits were considered equivalent to those of someone working fulltime.

Once you earn €38 a week you get a PRSI credit for that week. Where it gets tricky is if you job-share in a week-on week-off scenario.

Private Sector Employments

PRSI Class A

People within CLASS A:
People in industrial, commercial and service-type employment who are employed under a contract of service with gross earnings of €38 or more per week from all employments; Civil and Public Servants recruited from 6 April, 1995 and Community Employment participants from 6 April, 1996.

CLASS A BENEFITS:

• Jobseeker's Benefit
• Illness Benefit
• Health and Safety Benefit
• Maternity Benefit
• Adoptive Benefit
• Invalidity Pension
• Widow's or Widower's (Contributory) Pension
• Guardian's Payment (Contributory)
• State Pension (Transition)
• State Pension (Contributory)
• Bereavement Grant
• Treatment Benefit
• Occupational Injuries Benefits
• Carer's Benefit

annamcmahon

Apologies for causing more confusion. Late at night and double baby brain confused me. I found them one of the few genuinely helpful sections of the Social Protection Dept. Talked to 3 different people and they all seemed to know what they were talking about and agreed with each other.

whatdoicare

lonestargirl wrote: »

Once you earn €38 a week you get a PRSI credit for that week. Where it gets tricky is if you job-share in a week-on week-off scenario.

Thanks for clearing that up for me lonestargirl - It was one of my main worries.

lonestargirl

whatdoicare wrote: »

I have zero prsi credits to work off - how long would I have to work to build up enough? How does it even work?

Are you sure you have no credits?

'Credits' while sick or unemployed

'Credits' are automatically given for any period you get Illness, Jobseeker's, Health and Safety, Maternity or Adoptive Benefit, Invalidity, State Pension (Transition) or Carer's Benefit. 'Credits' may also be given for periods of Injury Benefit, Jobseeker's Allowance, Pre-Retirement Allowance, or Carer's Allowance, or if you participate in an education or part-time work scheme for unemployed people.
If you are sick or unemployed, you may qualify for 'credits' even if you are not getting Illness Benefit or an unemployment payment. This can happen, for example, if you:

• do not have enough PRSI contributions to qualify for benefit;
• have used up your benefit, or
• are disqualified from getting unemployment payments because of a trade dispute.

If you are unemployed, you may be entitled to sign for 'credits' at your local Social Welfare Office.

whatdoicare

lonestargirl wrote: »

Are you sure you have no credits?

Wow, I did not know that at all - I'm so glad I posted here! I will indeed look into this!