Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (IS) v MM [2015] UKUT 128 (AAC) (Judge White), 18 March 2015 Addressing the delay between the end of employment and claiming JSA in a case where the claimant’s employment ended on 8 April 2011 and JSA was not claimed until 16 May 2011.
This judgment addressed the issue of delay between the end of a period of employment and claiming a jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) in a case where the claimant’s employment ended on 8 April 2011 and jobseeker’s allowance was not claimed until 16 May 2011.
The claimant’s appeal was allowed, applying the approach laid down in Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v MK (IS) [2013] UKUT 163 (AAC), namely, to ask whether, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, there has been undue delay in meeting the requirements of the Citizenship Directive:
“48. I have made a finding of fact that the claimant’s third employment ended on 8 April 2011. There was therefore a delay between then and 16 May 2011 when a jobseeker’s allowance was claimed.
- The claimant’s representative has this to say about the delay [at page 124 of the documents I have]:
- From 10/04/2011 to 13/05/2011, [the claimant] was in the hope of a new job offer being made by the agency and thus did not make any social welfare benefit claim despite being eligible to claim Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). [The claimant] has informed us that following the termination of her work, between the periods 10/04/2011 to 13/05/2011, she was able to live off the remainder of her savings.
- As nothing had transpired from the agency, on the 13/05/2011, our client had no option but to sign on for JSA. … .
- The claimant herself, in her letter stamped as received by the Upper Tribunal on 21 February 2014 [page 186 of the documents I have] said:
During the period between the end of employment and registering at Job Centre I did not work, I was waiting for work (I was already pregnant and there was no work for me) …
- In these circumstances and in the face of a delay of around five weeks, I would not regard there as being undue delay in making the claim for a jobseeker’s allowance. The claimant acted promptly when it became apparent that there was no further work for her from the agency. I also note in passing that Easter Sunday in 2011 fell on 24 April, so the period of delay included the Easter weekend.
- The result is that the claimant as at May 2011 retained her status as a worker under Article 45 TFEU in accordance with the provisions in Article 7(3)(b) of the Citizenship Directive.”
