The daily Star (08.07.2020) A virtual court in Dhaka today placed seven officials and employees of Regent Group on a five-day remand each in a case filed overissuing fake Covid-19 test results and charging patients for the test and treatment. They charged patients for the tests and treatment despite having an agreement with the government on carrying out tests and providing treatment for free. 

The Daily Star (08.07.2020) 

The government is set to distribute 10-kilogramme rice for free to each of over one crore "ultra-poor and destitute families" ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

The food aid will be given to 1,00,06,869 vulnerable group feeding (VGF) card holders across the country to mitigate the consequences of disasters like flood and coronavirus outbreak.

According to the letter sent by the disaster management and relief ministry, the ultra-poor and destitute families will need to meet at least four out of 12 criteria, to become eligible for receiving the assistance.

The criteria include landless households or those who have only homestead; households dependent on daily wage labour; households dependent on women's income or begging; households with no income-generating assets; households headed by widowed, divorced or separated women; households headed by a freedom fighter with disability, and households without access to two full meals a day for most of the year.

Only one beneficiary per household can receive the food aid, which will be distributed by local public representatives.

The Daily Star (30.06.2020) The government of Bangladesh has taken several positive measures to cope with the current crisis. On 7 April 2020, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced special insurance and stimulus for healthcare workers (HCWs) and other employees of the republic for their frontline roles in the fight against coronavirus. Special incentives include health insurance of Tk 5-10 lakh (according to rank), and the amount will be five times higher if anyone is at higher risk of death or dies from the virus. Also, the government will bear the treatment cost of frontline medical staff contracting the virus while on duty. 

Dhaka Tribune (10.05.2020) The government has decided to bear the operational costs of undersigned private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients. Medical professionals and others working at these hospitals will be paid by the government.   

However, private medical professionals will not be eligible for the same financial facilities as government employees. Government medical professionals are set to receive bonus salaries and will also get monetary aid if they contract or die from Covid-19.

Orbitax News (10.04.2020) A deferral of the payment of taxes and social insurance contributions on employee salaries and wages for the months of March, April, and May 2020, which can be deferred up to 4 January 2021, with the possibility of payment in up to 24 monthly installments. To qualify, it is required that companies have not reduced their number of employees by more than 10% between 15 March and the date the Regulations entered into force (10 April 2020). 

Government website (31.03.2020) the government of the Republic of Serbia adopted a decision to increase salaries by 10% to all health care professionals in the Republic of Serbia as of 1 April this year.

This increase applies to all employees of health and military health care institutions, employees of health care services in social care institutions, as well as to doctors who work in correctional facilities.

Ministry of Finance (03.07.2020) Coverage of State Budget of employer contributions during the months of July, August and September 2020 for companies that have the highest percentage of their turnover by 3 the quarter.

Ministry of Finance (03.07.2020) Extension of the provision for subsidizing 60% of the insurance contributions of employers in the SYN-ERGASIA program for the months of August to October.

The National Herald (10.06.2020) From June 15 until July 31, the state will pay 60 percent of employers’ social insurance contributions for workers under suspension, offering an additional incentive to enterprises to maintain or raise job positions, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Yiannis Vroutsis said.

 GTP Headlines (21.05.2020) Aiming to protect jobs and at the same time keep companies hit by the coronavirus pandemic above water, the Greek government announced the launch on June 1 of the “Syn-ergasia” program. Under the scheme, Covid-19-impacted businesses can slash the working hours of their full-time employees by half without affecting their working agreement. The state will in turn cover up to 60 percent of their lost income. Companies making use of the tool cannot lay off any employees.

e-EFKA (23.06.2020) Due to the special conditions due to the pandemic of COVID-19, self-employed can use the benefit of the 25% discount for current May contributions. 

The main condition for the discount - which is optional for any professional - is the timely payment of May contributions.

It should be noted that in order to benefit from the above discount, you must have paid the contributions of the previous 4 months, ie the period January - April 2020. 

e-EFKA (03.06.2020) Due to the special conditions due to the pandemic of COVID-19, self-employed have to choose between three (3) alternatives as follows:

a. The payment of the contribution corresponding to their insurance category

b. The payment of the April 2020 contribution reduced by 25% if they have paid or will repay by 10/6 the contributions of the previous months of 2020 (January-February-March), ie instead of the € 220 corresponding to the minimum premium will be required to pay 165 €

c. The payment of the contribution in four monthly instalments without surcharges, with payment of the 1st instalment until 31/10/2020 if they fall into the affected branches

This technical guidance identifies 10 policy objectives for decision-makers, policy-makers and national or regional health authorities as they strive to prevent and manage the COVID-19 pandemic in long-term care settings.

While those tasked with making decisions for long-term care systems are often structurally separate from those managing health systems, during the various stages of the COVID-19 pandemic certain objectives should be pursued in cooperation and given equal weight in official guidance, public communication and planning measures. Such cooperation not only would help to strengthen and secure the availability of long-term care services for people receiving these services, but would also help to minimize pressure on health systems during the pandemic.

The focus here is on older people above the age of 65 years who use long-term care services in their homes, day centres or designated facilities (residential homes and nursing homes).

IMF Blog (22.07.2020) The practical challenge of quickly getting financial support in the hands of people who lost jobs amid the COVID-19 economic crisis has baffled advanced and developing economies alike. Economic lockdowns, physical distancing measures, patchy social protection systems and, especially for low-income countries, the high level of informality, complicate the task. Many governments are leveraging mobile technology to help their citizens.

socialprotection.org (July 2020) This note describes the main strategies used by, and available to, countries to deliver cash support in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of the note is to inform both ongoing responses to COVID-19 and medium to long term investments in delivery mechanisms that could be used to respond to future crises. In detail, it builds on existing literature (see Box 1 for full references) to provide governments and development partners with concise information on the main payment options available, outlining strengths and weaknesses of each, as well as prerequisites and key actions required for their inclusive implementation.

omannews.gov.om (15.04.2020)

Payment of utilities' bills (such as electricity, water and wastewater) are postponed until after June 2020.

aseanbriefing.com (07.05.2020)

Companies in the tourism and garment sectors who want to suspend employment contracts must first submit an application to the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training (MLVT). The suspended employees can receive monthly allowances from the government. The maximum period for suspension is two months but this can be extended further depending on the circumstances.

aseanbriefing.com (07.05.2020)

Suspension of monthly contributions to NSSF for enterprises in the garment and tourism sectors.

issblog.nl  (26.07.2020) Since March 2020, the Philippines has implemented one of the world’s strictest and longest lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused severe disruptions in peoples’ livelihoods. The government’s emergency social protection response, the ‘Social Amelioration Program’ (SAP), has also been notably massive, introducing one-off near-universal income protection. It is an insightful case given that the country’s existing social assistance system has been celebrated as a model for developing countries, even though it has been mostly bypassed in the emergency response. Moreover, the country’s highly stratified and fragmented social policy system has resulted in implementation delays and irregularities that have fostered social hostilities and undermined the potential for such momentary universalism to have lasting transformative effects.

United Nations ESCAP (25.06.2020) South Asia, a subregion with nearly a quarter of world’s population but over a third of world’s people living in extreme poverty and hunger, has been impacted severely given the vast proportion of population living at the margins, fragmented coverage of social protection, pervasive informality in economic activities and employment, and wide gaps in public health infrastructure.

Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion - European Commission(01.07.2020) 

The new Europass offers a range of online ‘e-Portfolio’ tools and information for people of all ages, at all stages of their lives, to manage their learning and career such as:

• a personal profile for people to record all their skills, qualifications and experiences
• tailored suggestions of jobs (via EURES) and courses for Europass users based on their interests and skills
• updated tools for creating CVs and cover letters
• information on learning and working in Europe

The coronavirus pandemic has instigated a work-from-home culture with many employees wanting to extend the experience.

However, the conditions imposed by the EU risk acting as a brake for cross-border workers in regions like Geneva, which borders with France, Swiss public radio (RTS) reports.

The reason is that beyond a certain threshold, different tax and social security rules apply if an employee is domiciled abroad. This has an impact on the estimated 330,000 cross-border workers employed at Swiss-based firms but who live in France, Italy, Germany or Austria.

The Federal Council (01.07.2020) On July 1, 2020, the Federal Council extended the maximum period for receiving short-time work compensation from twelve to eighteen months. There is also a grace period of one day. This amendment to the ordinance will come into force on September 1, 2020 and will apply until December 31, 2021.

Bloomberg (16.06.2020) France will consider proposals to protect gig workers after pandemic lockdowns pushed the status of people who rely on tech platforms for their income to the forefront. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has appointed a group of nine experts to suggest increased protection for platform workers, such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Deliveroo drivers, and others by October, according to a copy of the request made public by one of the members.

ilo.org (24.07.2020) Policies need to be put in place to protect stranded migrant workers and to ensure the reintegration of those who return to their home countries, says the International Labour Organization.