Would be very grateful for any help with this. Client is a supply teacher who claimed JSA on 24th July. Schools have returned but as yet he has still not been allocated any work. He has just been notified that his claim is unsuccessful because he is deemed to be in full time work. Are we able to challenge this. Thank you

i thought the point of being a supply teacher was that you were a temp? only getting paid whilst in fact working? and if i'm right about that, why would they reject his claim after 24/7? mmmmm and presumably he's looking for f/t work as well? therefore he's available for whatever teaching work the dwp can find for him (sorry, tongue in cheek there..)

It all depends on the contract of employment, in particular whether the person ceased to be employed at the end of his last period of work i.e. did he get his P45. The contact may provide details about the period of appointment and any requirement for notice to terminate the employment. The period of the appointment may not have been given. If notice is needed to terminate the employment, find out whether notice was given. If it was, find out how and when it was given. If there is no satisfactory evidence that proper notice was given, the contract may not have been terminated.

The terms of the employment may not be in the contract itself. They may be set out in some other document. For example, an LEA's “Conditions of Employment and Tenure of Teacher”. Ask for a copy of the relevant document. The claimant or employer may say that no written contract of employment was issued. Ask for a copy of the letter of appointment and any other letters about the terms of the appointment.

The DWP will have made their decision with that information.

There may also be scope for further exploration here. How long has he been at that particular educational establishment? If it can be established that he is in a regular cycle of work (probably unlikely as he is a supply teacher – but worth finding out) then his weekly hours need averaging to determine whether he is in remunerative work. To do this you need to total the amount of hours worked over the cycle (usually 1 year) and then divide by 52. If the resulting figure is less than 16 (or 24 if he has a partner who can claim) then he is not in remunerative work and can claim JSA.