socmin.lrv.lt (05.01.2021)

Employers will be able to benefit from the supported employment measures and receive wage subsidies if they employ the most vulnerable residents and help them return to the labour market. Subsidies may be paid to employers who employ additional jobseekers referred by the Employment Authority, such as the persons with disabilities, elderly or young people, long-term or unskilled unemployed, etc.

socmin.lrv.lt (05.01.2021)

As quarantine continues, those employers, who are unable to provide their employees with work, can announce downtime for the employees. From 2021, in respect of the downtime employees the employers will receive the full compensation (100%) for the gross and net wage to the employee during downtime. The maximum compensation will amount to 1.5 minimum monthly wages, i.e. EUR 963. However, the compensated amount may not exceed the wage fixed in the employment contract before the date of declaration of the second quarantine.

cssz.cz (november 2020)
A new one-off supplement of CZK 5000,- to the beneficiaries of the Czech statutory pension was provided via CSSA. The aim of this benefit is to quickly help these vulnerable groups, especially the elderly, who are very negatively affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. This extra supplement is provided only once by the CSSA without any client´s request (no claim is needed or requested) in December 2020 within the deadline set by it, in the same way (by postal order, to the account, to the account of the ZSS) as the pension is paid in November 2020. It will be paid to all type of pensions - old-age, disabled, widow's and widower's and Orphan.

Government of Andorra (23.12.2020) The Minister of Health, Joan Martínez Benazet, announced on Wednesday that the Government will offer a second free antigen self-test to all residents of the country over the age of 6: “it was a measure we had already planned but we needed more stock to be able to carry it out ”. In this sense, the holder of the portfolio has indicated that during this Wednesday they will be made available to the commons in the coming days so that they can distribute them with the operations that have been organized from the corporations. In addition, Martínez Benazet reported that the Council of Ministers has approved an amendment to the Regulation establishing the conditions for the sale of rapid antigen tests in pharmacies in order to regulate their price. Given that the Executive considers that these tests are part of the Government's strategy to combat the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the Principality and that the network of pharmacies offers an essential and local service, it has been decided to include in the regulation a limitation on its selling price.

Advantia (06.05.2020) In the case of the contributions of salaried persons, the government and the company proportionally assume the employer's part of the contribution of the general branch. Discharges due to isolation or diagnosis due to COVID-19 are covered with 100% of salary from the first day in the case of health personnel, and 66% from the first day in the case of other professionals. In the case of the self-employed, they can benefit from a 50% reduction in the contribution to social security or even its suspension (in which case the Government assumes 10% of the contribution in the general branch, in a that health benefits are assured).

Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment (01.12.2020) The Morrison Government will provide a one-off payment to assist travel agents in recognition that many continue "to work hard processing consumer refunds, whilst unable to trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic". 

Under the $128 million scheme, eligible travel agents with a turnover of between $50,000 and $20 million a year will be able to apply for the one off payment.

Payments will be scaled, with a minimum payment of $1500 for a business with a turnover of $50 000 up to a maximum payment of $100,000 for a business with a turnover of $20 million.

 U.S. Department of the Treasury (January 2021) The Emergency Rental Assistance program makes available $25 billion to assist households that are unable to pay rent and utilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The funds are provided directly to States, U.S. Territories, local governments, and Indian tribes.  Grantees use the funds to provide assistance to eligible households through existing or newly created rental assistance programs. Eligible households may receive up to 12 months of assistance, plus an additional 3 months if the grantee determines the extra months are needed to ensure housing stability and grantee funds are available.  The payment of existing housing-related arrears that could result in eviction of an eligible household is prioritized.  Assistance must be provided to reduce an eligible household’s rental arrears before the household may receive assistance for future rent payments.  Once a household’s rental arrears are reduced, grantees may only commit to providing future assistance for up to three months at a time.  Households may reapply for additional assistance at the end of the three-month period if needed and the overall time limit for assistance is not exceeded.

worldbank.org (25.01.2021)

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved additional financing of $21.6 million to further help Maldives mitigate the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis on poor and vulnerable workers and their families. The additional financing will be utilized to expand the existing COVID-19 Emergency Income Support Project, which was approved by the World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors in June 2020 with funding of $12.8 million. It will help finance the extended duration of the Government’s COVID-19 Income Support Allowance scheme by continuing to provide temporary support of up to MVR 5,000 (approximately $322) per month to workers who have lost their jobs or income as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (January 2021) The Paycheck Protection Program established by the CARES Act, is implemented by the Small Business Administration with support from the Department of the Treasury.  This program provides small businesses with funds to pay up to 8 weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds can also be used to pay interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The Paycheck Protection Program prioritizes millions of Americans employed by small businesses by authorizing up to $659 billion toward job retention and certain other expenses. Small businesses and eligible nonprofit organizations, Veterans organizations, and Tribal businesses described in the Small Business Act, as well as individuals who are self-employed or are independent contractors, are eligible if they also meet program size standards.

U.S. Department of the Treasury (January 2021) The Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 authorized additional payments of up to $600 per adult and up to $600 for each qualifying child. In general, individuals with adjusted gross income of up to $75,000 (or $150,000 for joint filers or surviving spouses) will receive the full amount of the second payment.  For filers whose adjusted gross income exceeds these amounts, the payment is reduced. This second round of payments will be distributed automatically, with no action required for eligible individuals.  If additional legislation is enacted to provide for an increased amount, Economic Impact Payments that have been issued will be topped up as quickly as possible.

El Diario (26.01.2021) With the extension of the ERTEs until May 31st, companies will maintain high exemptions in the different ERTE modalities, which even reach 100% in some cases. For the 'ultra-protected' sectors and their dependent companies and their value chain, the savings in the Social Security contribution is 85% for companies with less than 50 workers and 75% for those with more than that level of staff, both for reinstated and suspended employees. In the case of ERTEs due to disability, which companies in any sector can take advantage of, the exemptions are 100% for companies with less than 50 workers and 90% for those that exceed that level of staff. In the limitation ERTE, the exemptions are decreasing: from 100% in February, 90% in March, 85% in April and 80% in May for companies with less than 50 workers and from 90%, 80%, 75% and 70 % (in those months) for companies that exceed that staff level.

El Diario (26.01.2021) The so-called "forbidden firing" also extends until May 31, which in reality supposes a government veto of objective dismissals motivated by the pandemic. The measure is extended, which has generated two interpretations in the Social Courts: both sentences that declare these dismissals as inadmissible (the majority) , and some that consider them invalid. A Barcelona court has declared a dismissal appropriate in this context .

El Diario (26.01.2021) The most outstanding novelties of this extension of the ERTE until May 31st, are based on facilitating administrative procedures, such as to go from an ERTE of limitation to one of impediment and vice versa, as well as that it is not necessary to re-process the unemployment benefits of workers affected by the extension. In addition, the group of sectors we consider to be most affected by the pandemic changes slightly, wider after the decree to support the hospitality industry : three activities are incorporated (camping and caravan parks, rental of means of navigation, and physical maintenance activities) and three more come out (carpet manufacturing, cold drawing and musical instrument manufacturing).

El Diario (26.01.2021) If you are in a vulnerable situation and your landlord is a "large landlord", you can request a postponement of the payment of the rent until May 9. This new decree extends the possibility of requesting a "temporary and extraordinary" postponement if the following conditions: that the tenant is in a situation of vulnerability caused by the coronavirus crisis and that the owner has more than ten properties. The assumptions of economic vulnerability are the following: being unemployed or ERTE, receiving less than three times the IPREM and that income plus expenses represent more than 35% of income. The owner can offer two alternatives: the reduction of 50% of the monthly payment while the state of alarm lasts and with a maximum of four months or the postponement itself, which will last for the duration of the state of alarm and, at most, four months following. In the latter case, the tenant will have three years to return the unpaid installments in installments, without penalty or interest.

El Diario (26.01.2021) From February the access to the so-called 'unemployment' aid for the self-employed created due to the pandemic will be extended until May 31. There are some changes, among them the requirement of a drop in income from 75% to 50% is relaxed in order to access severance benefits. The requirement of having to have been a beneficiary of the extraordinary benefit for cessation of activity until June 30, during the first state of alarm, in order to benefit from these aid, a criterion that had generated a protection gap, is also abolished . Outside of the aid, the Government suspends during this period the increase in the Social Security quota that was applied from this January, due to the agreement to progressively raise some types of contributions and, in the same way, the social protection linked to these.

El Diario (26.01.2021) The Government has approved this Tuesday a macro-decree with the extension of several labor and social protection measures, part of the so-called 'social shield' against the pandemic. The Council of Ministers has extended the current ERTE model due to COVID practically without changes until next May 31, after Easter, which will also be the new limit for 'unemployment' aid for the self-employed. The ERTE scheme articulated last September is maintained until May 31st, 2021: those aimed at the 'ultra-protected' sectors (considered most affected by the pandemic) and dependent companies linked to its value chain, plus the ERTE to impede the activity and the ERTE of activity limitation, for companies that see their businesses altered by restrictive measures against the virus. Workers affected by ERTE will continue to have access to unemployment benefit without a grace period, even if they have not paid the minimum amount for it. In addition, the so-called 'counter at zero' is maintained, so the period consumed until January 2022 will not be computed. The benefit will be equivalent to 70% of the regulatory base, as up to now.

Social Security State's Secretary (25.01.2021) With the beginning of the year, new moratoriums on Social Security contributions have come into force. These postponements are regulated in Final Provision 43 of Law 11/2020 on General State Budgets for the year 2021 (LPGE) and are aimed at companies and freelancers who are up to date with their obligations and do not have any other postponement in vigor. In the case of self-employed workers, the moratorium covers the quotas whose accrual corresponds to the months of January to March 2021. For companies, between the months of December 2020 and February 2021. The deferral carries an interest rate of 0.5%, which is seven times lower than the normally established.

The Edition (21.01.2021) The United Nations (UN) and Maldives on Thursday signed a project document on digitialising social services in order to better protect women and girls from poverty and violence during emergency situations. Titled 'Protecting Women and Children: Digitalizing and Streamlining Social Services and Creating a Unified Platform for National Care', the project aims to enhance shock-responsive social protection benefits and services targeted towards women and girls, in order to prevent them from falling into poverty and protect them from violence in prolonged socioeconomic and emergency situations such as the ongoing COVID-19. pandemic.

ideasforindia.in (21.01.2021) Urban slum-dwellers are among the groups that are most at-risk of Covid-19, and their precarious situation is further compounded by rampant misinformation regarding the Virus. Based on a survey of about 4,000 households in slum areas in Uttar Pradesh, this article shows that recorded phone messages from doctors giving information on Covid-19 – along with high financial incentives to pay attention – can debunk related fake news.

The Guardian (25.01.2021) Women and young workers bear brunt of job losses and reductions in hours, says UN labour body

Government of Austria (20.01.2021) Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the governing parties extended the increased emergency assistance until March 2021, and to pay this out restrospectively (this ended in December 2020). Around 200,000 people per month benefit from the increased emergency aid.

Government of Austria (20.01.2021) Extended paid leave for pregnant women who cannot work remotely, and whose work requires close contact with other people, such as teachers, haridressers, beauticians, physiotherapists and masseuses. The measure is in place until June 2021. The regulation also ensures that employers do not experience any financial losses, as the government will reimburse 100% of the wages.

German Government (20.01.2021) Thanks to the Act for the Digital Modernisation of Care and Nursing on January 20th, 2021, midwives and other healthcare professionals will in future be able to offer telemedicine services, and will be paid for these. In addition, it is to become easier to use e-prescriptions, even internationally. Besides this, a brief patient file is to be created, meaning that patients will be able to share important information with their doctors even if they are in another EU member state. All IT security, data privacy and data protection requirements will be taken into account, as they are to date.

German Government (20.01.2021) The importance of digitalisation in the health system and the need to make better use of the potentials offered by digitalisation has become particularly evident during the pandemic. In the future, it is to be possible to include digital applications, such as fall prevention apps or memory training apps, in regular nursing care. In the future, it will be possible to link digital applications with the electronic patient file. To this end, on Wednesday the Cabinet approved a bill; the draft Act for the Digital Modernisation of Care and Nursing.

The Guardian Nigeria News (20.01.2021) - No fewer than One million Nigerians are to benefit from the Federal Government’s COVID-19 Cash Transfer Project which aims to lift the urban poor affected by the pandemic out of poverty. The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, said this on Tuesday in Abuja while inaugurating the COVID-19 Rapid Response Registration (RRR) Cash Transfer Project.
Osinbajo said that the RRR was designed to focus mainly on the urban poor wards selected using scientifically validated methods of satellite remote sensing technology, machine learning algorithm and big data analysis. “This social protection method of targeting is the first strategy to be developed and tested in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and Nigeria will be the first country for its implementation. “With the RRR, which uses a wholly technology-based approach, we are primed to achieve an end-to-end digital foot-print in cash transfers for the urban poor. “Which also helps us achieve our financial inclusion policy under the Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access programme (EFInA).” News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the first set of 3,115 beneficiaries have already received N5,000 each cash transfer and the programme will continue until it reaches the one million target. The cash transfers will be received by the beneficiaries for six months.