High-earning workers who lose their jobs would be entitled to social welfare at more than twice the normal rate under proposals to radically overhaul the jobseeker payment.
Workers with a history of employment will qualify for welfare rates of up to €450 under the plans.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys will bring a memo to Cabinet tomorrow setting out plans to introduce unemployment benefit payments that will be directly linked to a worker’s pay, before they became unemployed.
Under the major shake-up of the welfare system, a worker with five or more years of PRSI contributions will be entitled to 60pc of their gross weekly salary, capped at €450 per week.
A worker with between two and five years’ worth of PRSI contributions will be entitled to 50pc of their gross weekly salary or up to €300 per week.
An employee will need to have made PRSI contributions in six of the 12 months before they became unemployed to avail of the higher rates of jobseeker payments.
Those with less than two years of PRSI contributions will receive the current rate of €208 per week. However, this is set to rise to €220 a week in January following a major increase in welfare rates in September’s Budget.
Under the plan, the higher rates would be paid for only six months before being tapered off to the regular jobseeker payment rate.
Read the full report on www.independent.ie
