Payment Pending Wages

Many jobseekers who have secured work will face the dilemma that they are wholly reliant on their Jobseeker’s payment – without it, they cannot afford to pay their week to week bills. Securing work causes a disruption to that payment.

If people are offered work, and the work is paid on a monthly basis, there will be a massive gap between losing Jobseekers payment and payment of wages. This can seem impossible to manage and possibly a barrier to taking up work. The person has no resources to bridge the gap.

The Department of Social Protection (DSP) can make available a payment through the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) payment scheme. The payment is called ‘Payment Pending Wages’. It can be made for up to 30 days for anyone returning to work where they would no longer qualify for a Jobseekers payment because they are in full-time employment but where they may have to wait for the first payment of their wages at the end of the month, and would therefore have no weekly income. The ‘Payment Pending Wages’ payment is means tested. However, it is not repayable to the department when the person receives their wages.

A good starting point is to make contact with the local Intreo Office and speak with the Intreo Case Officer. The Irish National Organisation for the Unemployed (INOU) have a helpline of (01) 856 0088 – they can guide people through this process if they need it.