The Government announced today the details of the Job Support and Temporary Unemployment Assistance Schemes to support employees of small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the epidemic and employees of premises affected by the "599F".
There are concerned groups that the two plans do not provide enough support for workers who are unemployed or underemployed, and the approval conditions are too strict. In particular, a large number of unpaid workers have been placed on unpaid leave. The income level has been greatly reduced to the point where they cannot make a living, but they have been excluded from the two plans. , it is proposed to expand the temporary unemployment support plan to pay 9,000 yuan for half a year. If workers are underemployed and their income is reduced by half, they can also apply to benefit more people in need.
Temporary Unemployment Assistance Approval Qualifications Too Strict
The government has announced the eligibility for temporary unemployment assistance. The applicant must have not worked for at least 30 consecutive days before accepting the application from 8:00 a.m. on March 23 (next Wednesday). Employees who were employed in Hong Kong for at least one month during December with a monthly salary of between $2,700 and $30,000 and who were employed on premises subject to Chapter 599F closures, as long as they meet the requirements of being suspended for at least 30 days from the last working day. Anyone can apply for funding.
If the unemployed have "spread" for a few days and have received income, they can submit an application first, and the relevant departments will "lend treatment" according to the situation.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam earlier announced the relaunch of the "employment protection" program, which will subsidize employees' wages from May to July to SME employers. Each employee with a monthly salary of less than 30,000 yuan can receive a flat subsidy of 8,000 yuan.
As for industries that have not been affected by the epidemic, such as large supermarket chains, large pharmacies, property management companies, express delivery industries, banking and financial industries, etc., they cannot benefit.
Hong Junyi, a member of the Social Welfare Care Poverty Platform, said that the government has launched two programs to support wage earners and the unemployed. More than 30 billion yuan, there is a clear gap between the two, and the former has strict application requirements and is eligible for unemployment for 30 consecutive days. He noticed that some restaurants in Shatin were closed due to the severe epidemic. Recently, the epidemic has eased slightly and reopened. Before the application plan starts The income of workers who have only started work for a few days has been greatly reduced, and they have been excluded from the scope of benefit in disguise.
Economic uncertainty groups suggest expanding support
He also pointed out that more than 10 types of scheduled premises were closed until April 20 due to the "599F" ordinance, and there is no deadline to lift the closure. It has been more than 3 months since the outbreak of the epidemic. If the support is too weak to allow workers to maintain their livelihoods, it is suggested that they should refer to the previous employment protection plan and distribute 9,000 yuan to the unemployed workers for half a year.
As for He Peiyi, Director of the Policy Innovation and Coordination Office, he pointed out that workers have been unemployed for a period of time. If they are fired 30 days before the application, they can "try" to apply. The law was discouraged, and believed that the government should clearly define the definition of the scope of support. It was suggested to expand the scope to the extent of under-operating or loss of income to the extent of halving or more, which would also benefit.
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