Seasonal Work Preclusion Period (SWPP) 106-05020080

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Example

1

Example of an SWPP calculation

Aaron works for 25 weeks as a relief teacher. For this work, Aaron is paid a total of $49,750. Aaron then claims JobSeeker Payment (JSP) on the 15 December 2023, 1 week after finishing work. The relevant Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) for this period is $1,769.80. What will Aaron's SWPP be?

Step 1

Divide the seasonal work earnings by the AWOTE:

$49,750 ÷ $1,769.80 = 28.11 AWOTE weeks

Step 2

Add the seasonal work weeks and intervening weeks:

25 + 1 = 26 self-supported weeks

Step 3

Subtract the self-supported weeks from the AWOTE weeks:

28.11 - 26 = 2.11

The result of 2.11 is rounded down to 2. Aaron's SWPP will be 2 weeks, commencing from the date of claim.

Note: for a complete list of current and historical AWOTE figures, see 1.1.A.375 of the Social Security Guide.

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Example

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Jason works from 3 April to 4 May 2022 on a privately owned fishing trawler that is contracted to the local fishing co-operative. For this period he receives $14,953.

On 7 May 2022 Jason is contracted directly by the local fishing co-operative to clean and prepare fish as part of the season’s catch. This contract ceases on 18 June 2022 and he receives $10,920.

As there is a gap of less than 14 days between these two periods of employment and are both within the same industry, this is treated as one continuous period of work of 77 days (11 weeks).

Jason then claims Jobseeker Payment (JSP) on 20 June 2022. (18 June 2022 to 20 June 2022 = 1 day – the inbetween day – divided by 7 = 0.14 weeks.

The relevant Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE) for this period is $1,737.10

Step 1

Divide the seasonal work earnings by the AWOTE:

$14,953 + 10,920 = $25,873 / $1,737.10 = 14.89 AWOTE weeks

Step 2

Add the seasonal work weeks and intervening weeks:

11 + 0.14 = 11.14 self-supported weeks

Step 3

Subtract the self-supported weeks from the AWOTE weeks:

14.89 – 11.14 = 3.75

The result of 3.75 is rounded up to 4. Jamie will serve a 4 week SWPP, commencing from the date of claim.

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Description

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The SWPP was waived in full for customers with a SWPP ending on or after 25 March 2020 to 31 March 2021 inclusive.

This included:

• new claims
• customers who were serving a SWPP (for example, their waiting period ended on 30 May 2020). The SWPP was manually waived from the date the waiting period started
• customers who served their waiting period and started to receive payment (for example, their waiting period ended on 26 March 2020)

Customers did not need to show financial hardship for these waiting periods to be waived.

2

To manually waive the SWPP

Go to the Newstart DOC Calculator (NDC) screen. If the SWPP end date is on or after 25 March 2020:

• Key 'C' in the Waive field
• In the Comment field record the decision 'SWPP waived during COVID 19'
• In Source field select 'INT'
• In the Date of Receipt (DOR) field, key the date the SWPP started. The waiver will take effect from this date
• Key 'C' in the Action field
• Press [Enter]
• Press [Enter] again to continue the screen flow

Once all changes have been updated, or if no changes are needed:

• go to the Assessment Results (AR) screen
• if all payments (including arrears) are correct:
• finalise the activity
• record a DOC with the outcome of actions

For statement reporters, finalise any outstanding reports using the Earnings and Reporting workflow.