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After Saint Prix
Just wonder if anyone has any thoughts on this…
Dutch national worked for three years after leaving school then became pregnant and was on maternity for roughly 12 months so by my reckoning has had three years as a worker and 1 year with retained worker status via Saint Prix.
She has now made a claim for IS and has been refused as no r2r. She did NOT state that she would be looking for work on her claim form or the HRT form so may struggle to argue that she was registered as a work seeker - just wondering if this is terminal to retaining her worker status?
She has fled her home town due to DV and is still not able to return there but her previous employer have kept her job open and she can return to work as soon as she is ready - could this help her to retain her worker status?
Also - what happens if she claims JSA now…? There has been a 2 month gap since the maternity period ended - is this likely to prevent her from retaining her worker status?
I don’t think Saint Prix is relevant to your customer - she remained a worker while on maternity leave. The difficult part is what happened at the end of her 12 months leave. I don’t think being unable to return to work due to threat of violence in her home town lets her retain worker status. She chose not to return to work so she has ceased to be a worker. You will need to show what action she has taken to find work in her new locale.
You might want to try a 2 pronged approach at this.
She has fled her home town due to DV and is still not able to return there but her previous employer have kept her job open and she can return to work as soon as she is ready - could this help her to retain her worker status?
Maybe she still retains her worker status as employer has the job open for her, there is still an employee, employer relationship there.
http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/Aspx/view.aspx?id=2526
OR
Retains “worker” status, maybe the 8 week gap is not fatal.
Also - what happens if she claims JSA now…? There has been a 2 month gap since the maternity period ended - is this likely to prevent her from retaining her worker status?
Not making a claim for JSA for 6 weeks is not necessarily fatal.
http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKUT/AAC/2015/121.html
Got it - thanks.
Saint Prix not relevant as she just went on maternity leave rather than giving up work due to pregnancy-related reasons.
So worth arguing that she retains worker status because either:
1 - She still has an en employee/employer relationship as her job is being held for her.
or
2 - She claimed JSA quickly enough and the 8 week doesn’t prevent her from retaining her worker status.
Incidentally despite stating on her HRT form that she wasn’t looking for work she did in fact enquire about securing a new job here, and even got a provisional offer of work - presumably this is helpful to her cause?
Incidentally despite stating on her HRT form that she wasn’t looking for work she did in fact enquire about securing a new job here, and even got a provisional offer of work - presumably this is helpful to her cause?
Yes, I would presume so, at least the DWP can’t categorically say “she’s left the labour market”