Calculating work hours: Seasonal Workers
Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance
If you are a seasonal worker, you are usually regarded as having a ‘cycle of work’ for that part of the year when you are working and you should not be treated as being in full-time work for the other part of the year.
If you have no recognisable ‘cycle of work’, then the average of hours over the five weeks prior to your claim for benefit is used.
Working Tax Credit
If you are a seasonal worker, your 'cycle of work' might be considered to only cover the period during which you are working, be that Summer or Winter for example.
You may count as unemployed for the periods in the year when you are not working, unlike term time workers.
Reviewed: September 2021