Marcus Said:

Would resigning to join expectant partner elsewhere EU be seen as good reason, not affecting Cont' based JSA ?

We Answered:

Whew, what a lot of questions!

Firstly, good cause for leaving your job. It really depends on your situation. The Decision Makers would need to know why you left so early, and didn''t leave when you were due to go abroad. Also, the fact that the job is part time may sway things in your favour. But remember that they only look at the last job you had; were you to leave that one, and do a couple of days temping work for an agency, then your reason for being unemployed would be "laid off" rather than "left voluntarily"

Secondly, the claimant would be expected to look for work in UK as well as new EU state. Although bear in mind that if you have a "usual occupation" you can restrict your job search to that for the first 13 weeks of your claim.

Thirdly, the decision making process can take quite a long time. When you put in your claim to Jobseeker's Allowance, it usually takes a couple of weeks to process. You will be paid from the start of your claim, minus the first 3 days, which are called "waiting days". Until a decision is made on whether you have good cause for leaving your job, you will continue to receive the full amount of JSA. So you may very well have found work by the time that decision is reached.(It can take over a month sometimes for them to come back, as it is not treated as priority, as no benefits have been suspended pending the decision).

In summary, you should consider whether it is necessary to resign from your current job so soon anyway, as it is part-time, you say you are well paid in it, and claiming JSA would surely make you worse off. If you do resign, try and get a temporary job (handing out leaflets, or a week doing some packing work should do the trick). That way when you claim, you won't have to worry about any pending sanctions.