Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act, 1981

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PART V

Intermittent Unemployment Insurance

Preliminary and General

Interpretation.

[1942 IU, ss. 2, 6, 7, 8, 9]

233.—(1) In this Part—

“calendar week” means the period of 7 days commencing from midnight between Sunday and Monday;

“the Fund” means the Supplementary Unemployment Fund established under the Insurance (Intermittent Unemployment) Act, 1942 ;

“inclement weather” means weather that, owing to rain, storm, snow, hail, frost, flood or other adverse climatic condition, renders temporarily unsafe or impracticable the performance of work in an insurable employment, having regard to the health or safety of the persons engaged therein or to the nature or technical requirements of the work;

“insurable employment” has the meaning assigned by section 234 ;

“insurance year” means such period as may be prescribed;

“insured person” means any person of the age of 16 years or upwards who is employed in insurable employment under a contract of service or apprenticeship, written or oral, whether expressed or implied and whether such person is paid by the employer or some other person, and whether paid by time or by the piece or partly by time and partly by the piece, or otherwise, or without any money payment, but does not include a person employed under a contract of apprenticeship under which no money is payable by the employer, or a person who is for the time being an excepted person within the meaning of section 236 (2);

“intermittent unemployment” means unemployment and consequent loss of wages due to stoppage of work which is unavoidable owing to inclement weather, in an insurable employment and the expression “intermittently unemployed” shall be construed accordingly;

“local office” means an employment exchange or other place appointed by the Minister as a local office;

“local officer” means an officer who for the time being is in charge of a local office; “skilled worker” means—

[ S.I. No. 82 of 1955 ]

(a) as respects employment in the building, civil engineering or painting trades, an insured person who is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship in—

(i) the capacity of carpenter, joiner, wood-cutting machinist, bricklayer, mason, stonecutter, stonelayer, terrazzo and mosaic worker; floor and wall tiler, plasterer, slater, roof-tiler, painter, paperhanger, decorator, glazier, plumber, heating-fitter, gas-fitter, french-polisher or electrician, or

(ii) such other capacity as the Minister may decide generally or in a particular case to be employment as a skilled worker,

(b) as respects employment in any other trade that is declared by an order made by the Minister under this Part to be insurable employment for the purposes of this Part, an insured person who is employed under a contract of service or apprenticeship in—

(i) a capacity which constitutes such person as a skilled worker as defined by such order, or

(ii) such other capacity as the Minister may decide generally or in a particular case to be employment as a skilled worker;

“unskilled worker” means an insured person who is not a skilled worker;

[1963 MP, s. 17]

“young person” means an insured person who has attained the age of 16 years but has not attained the age of 18 years.

[1942 IU, s. 7; 1963 MP, s. 17]

(2) A person shall not be regarded as a skilled worker or an unskilled worker until the first day after the termination of the insurance year in which he attains the age of 18 years.

[1963 MP, s. 17]

(3) A person who attains the age of 18 years shall be regarded as a young person until the last day of the insurance year in which he attains that age.

[1942 IU, s. 7]

(4) An insured person who is a skilled worker and whose normal occupation alters in such a way as to make him an unskilled worker shall be regarded as a skilled worker until such date as it is proved to the satisfaction of the Minister that the normal occupation of the insured person has so altered.

(5) An insured person who is an unskilled worker and whose normal occupation alters in such a way as to make him a skilled worker shall be regarded as an unskilled worker until such date as it is proved to the satisfaction of the Minister that the normal occupation of the insured person has so altered.