The Jobseeker’s Allowance Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996

Restriction of hours for which a person is available to 40 hours per week

7.—(1) Except as provided in regulation 13 (additional restrictions on availability for certain groups) and in regulation 17(2) (laid off and short-time workers), a person may not restrict the total number of hours for which he is available for employment to less than 40 hours in any week.

(2) A person may restrict the total number of hours for which he is available for employment in any week to 40 hours or more providing—

(a) the times at which he is available to take up employment (his “pattern of availability”) are such as to afford him reasonable prospects of securing employment;

(b) his pattern of availability is recorded in his jobseeker’s agreement and any variations in that pattern are recorded in a varied agreement, and

(c) his prospects of securing employment are not reduced considerably by the restriction imposed by his pattern of availability.

(3) A person who has restricted the total number of hours for which he is available in accordance with paragraph (2) and who is not available for employment, and is not to be treated as available for employment in accordance with regulation 14 (circumstances in which a person is to be treated as available), for one day or more in a week in accordance with his pattern of availability shall not be regarded as available for employment even if he was available for employment for a total of 40 hours or more during that week.