Nikkei Asian Review (16.04.2020) Japan plans to send a cash handout of 100,000 yen ($930) to every resident, regardless of income, to lessen the economic blow from the coronavirus pandemic after an earlier income support scheme met with resistance.

oecd.org (14.04.2020) Tax and fiscal policy responses are playing a critical role in limiting the hardship caused by containment measures, and should continue to do so as governments seek to support households and businesses, protect employment and pursue economic recovery from the global pandemic, according to new OECD analysis.

kwsp.gov.my (23.03.2020) Employees Provident Fund (EPF) says that EPF members may apply for the i-Lestari Account 2 Withdrawal Scheme beginning 1 April 2020. They can expect their savings to be deposited into their bank accounts from 1 May 2020.

Sicherheit und Gesundheitsschutz haben oberste Priorität, wenn es um Arbeit in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie geht. Dem Arbeitsschutz kommt dabei eine zentrale Rolle zu. Bundesarbeitsminister Hubertus Heil hat dazu heute gemeinsam mit dem Hauptgeschäftsführer der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung und Vorsitzendem des  IVSS Fachausschusses für Unfallversicherung, Dr. Stefan Hussy, den Arbeitsschutzstandard COVID 19 vorgestellt. 

Die Bundesregierung empfiehlt daher einen neuen Arbeitsschutzstandard SARS-CoV-2 mit folgenden Eckpunkten:

1. Arbeitsschutz gilt weiter – und muss bei einem schrittweisen Hochfahren der Wirtschaft zugleich um betriebliche Maßnahmen zum Infektionsschutz vor SARS-CoV-2 ergänzt werden!
2. Sozialpartnerschaft nutzen, Arbeitsschutzexperten einbinden, Angebot arbeitsmedizinischer Vorsorge ausweiten!
3. Der Sicherheitsabstand von mindestens 1,5 Metern wird universell auch bei der Arbeit eingehalten - in Gebäuden, im Freien und in Fahrzeugen!
4. Abläufe werden so organisiert, dass die Beschäftigten möglichst wenig direkten Kontakt zueinander haben!
5. Niemals krank zur Arbeit!
6. Zusätzlichen Schutz bei unvermeidlichem direkten Kontakt sicherstellen!
7. Zusätzliche Hygienemaßnahmen treffen!
8. Arbeitsmedizinische Vorsorge nutzen; Risikogruppen besonders schützen!
9. Betriebliche Beiträge zur Pandemievorsorge sicherstellen!
10. Aktive Kommunikation rund um den Grundsatz "Gesundheit geht vor!"

Ein Beitrag aus der Vision Zero Community

Die Vision Zero Firma Adresys hat Plakate entworfen mit Vorschlägen, wie man sich in Zukunft grüssen kann. Darin enthalten sind z.B. der "Wuhan Shake", der "Elbow-Bump", oder auch der "Thai Wai".

Download the "HowToGreet" Posters (in English and German)

A contribution from the Vision Zero Community:

The Vision Zero Company  "ОхраПро" has produced their own posters to promote prevention measures in times of COVID-19 and has offered them as free ressources to the Vision Zero Community for download (in Russian only):

Короновирус плакат (PDF)
Плакат мойте руки (PDF)

A contribution from the Vision Zero Community:

Roanoke-based Virginia Transformer has rolled out a new set of initiatives to help protect its workers as production continues amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. “We’ve seen past outbreaks such as SARS in 2003 and MERS in 2015, so we’ve navigated challenges before and emerged stronger afterwards. This time, however, the challenge is higher but as an employer of choice, corporate neighbour and industry leader, our focus is on protecting our most valuable assets – our people,” said Prabhat Jain, CEO of Virginia Transformer (VTC). VTC has made an effort to follow CDC guidelines and took steps to protect employees from the virus. These measures have included:

• Free virus testing for employees suspected of having it.
• Paid sick leave up to 30 days for those impacted by the virus.
• Free family care centers available while school is closed.
• Additional hand sanitizers throughout the building.
• Additional staff to increase common area cleaning and disinfecting
• Partitioning to separate employees in close working areas.
• Additional personal protection equipment for employees, including masks and gloves.
• Staggered shifts, breaks and lunches to reduce density.
• Constant updates on the status of the virus locally and nationally with policy and procedure changes to meet the latest CDC and OSHA guidance.  

“Our products provide an essential service across the country and around the world – generating reliable power,” said Anoop Nanda, president of VTC. “We are privileged and honoured to be of service to this great nation during these unprecedented times and committed to providing our customers with industry-leading products while ensuring that we reduce the risks for our employees.”

regiones.gov.co (17.03.2020) De acuerdo con el memorando del 17 de marzo de 2020, se desarrollón una lista de orientación de entrega de complementación alimentaria y seguimiento nutricional en la modalidad de 1.000 días ara cambiar el mundo como medida de contingencia para la prevención, manejo y contención de la infección respiratoria causada por el COVID-19.

regiones.gov.co (18.03.2020) De acuerdo con la resolución 3005 del 18 de marzo de 2020, se acuerda modificar los servicios de atención a la primera infancia del Instituto Colombiano de Bienestar Familiar (ICBF) con el fin de continuar con el proceso de cuidado y crianza de niñas, niños y mujeres en el marco de la emergencia sanitaria por causa del Covid-19. Esta es una medida transitoria válida hasta el 20 de abril, pero puede extenderse.

regiones.gov.co (12.04.2020) El Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social definirá una canasta de atenciones para los pacientes con Coronavirus COVID-19, cuyo reconocimiento se efectuará por parte de la Administradora de los Recursos del Sistema General de Seguridad Social en Salud -ADRES-.

The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations of the Republic of Uzbekistan:
- jointly with the Ministry of Health, introduce a daily supplement of 6 percent of the monthly official salary to medical, sanitary-epidemiological and other employees for the period of their involvement in measures to counter the spread of coronavirus infection;
- to ensure timely payment of wages to employees of preschool, general secondary, specialized secondary and higher educational institutions, sports and cultural institutions, financed from the State budget and suspended their activities;
- termination of the employment contract with the employee who is the parent (person, substitute, guardian, trustee) of a child infected with coronavirus infection or placed in quarantine, as well as under 14 years of age, is prohibited.

mfa.uz (20.03.2020) Parents (persons replacing them, guardians, trustees) quarantined due to infection with a coronavirus infection or suspected infection, as well as persons caring for their child under the age of 14, are paid sick leave in the amount of 100 percent of the salary. One working parent for household is given a paid leave for the duration of schools and kindergartens shutdown without affecting the regular annual paid leave schedule.

mfa.uz (20.03.2020)

 Creation of an Anti-Crisis Fund under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the amount of 10 trillion soums. It will mainly used to:

• finance measures to combat the spread of coronavirus infection , including:

providing medical and other institutions with medicines and medical devices, protective drugs and test systems necessary to combat the spread of coronavirus infection; covering the costs of quarantining persons at risk or in contact with infected persons; the allocation of additional funds for material incentives for medical workers

•  support entrepreneurship and employment 

• expand social support for the population, including the allocation of additional funds: to strengthen measures to support low-income families and increase the number of recipients of benefits, including through the Council of the Federation of Trade Unions of Uzbekistan; for the organization of  support for labor migrants by organizing their vocational and language training;

• ensure the sustainable functioning of sectors of the economy throu gh: provisi on of state support measures to strategic enterprises by allocating interest-free budget loans to repay loans attracted under the state guarantee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, as well as to make priority expenses; compensation for part of the transport costs of business entities engaged in foreign trade; providing additional measures to support the sectors and sectors of the economy that are most susceptible to the negative impact of the spread of coronavirus infection.

regiones.gov.co (12.04.2020) Decreto 538. Artículo 13. Requisitos para inclusión del Coronavirus COVID-19 como enfermedad laboral directa. Elimfnense los requisitos de que trata el parágrafo 2 del artículo 4 de la Ley 1562 de 2012 para incluir dentro de la tabla de enfermedades laborales, el Coronavirus COVID- 19 como enfermedad laboral directa, respecto de los trabajadores del sector salud, incluyendo al personal administrativo, de aseo, vigilancia y de apoyo que preste servicios en las diferentes actividades de prevención, diagnóstico y atención de esta enfermedad. Las entidades Administradoras de Riesgos Laborales -ARL-, desde el momento en que se confirme el diagnóstico del Coronavirus COVID-19, deben reconocer todas las prestaciones asistenciales y económicas derivadas de la incapacidad de origen laboral por esa enfermedad, sin que se requiera la determinación de origen laboral en primera oportunidad o el dictamen de las juntas de calificación de invalidez.

voxeu.org (01.04.2020) Short-time work is a subsidy for temporary reductions in the number of hours worked in firms affected by temporary shocks. Evidence suggests that it can have large positive effects on employment and can be more effective than unemployment insurance or universal transfers. This column discusses how the COVID-19 crisis – with its mandated reduction in hours of work and massive liquidity crunch for firms – is a textbook case for the use of short-time work. Taking into account available evidence and the current situation, it proposes guidelines to effectively implement short-term work.

voxeu.org (07.04.2020) Due to the global spread of COVID-19, Austria, like many other countries, is facing a massive increase in unemployment. To mitigate the skyrocketing number of unemployed persons, social partners have developed a new model of subsidised short-time work that could become an international role model. The Austrian model allows a temporary reduction in working hours up to 90% while maintaining the employment relationship and granting almost full public wage compensation. This measure can help to bridge the economic outfall as it helps to stabilise demand and fosters a fast return to pre-crisis economic activity. 

treasury.gov.my (27.02.2020) The effects of COVID-19 reverberate beyond the tourism industry. Malaysian businesses, especially exporters are affected by supply chain disruptions involving factories and ports in China. Therefore, the Government will carry out immediate measures to boost local consumption growth to cushion the effect of negative external factors, while protecting local Malaysian jobs. These measures include: First : the minimum Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contribution by employees will be reduced by 4% from 11% to 7%, with effect from 1 April 2020 to 31 December 2020. This will potentially unlock up to RM10 billion worth of private consumption. Malaysian workers have the option to opt out from the scheme and maintain their contribution rate. Second : a payment of RM200 to all Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) recipients scheduled for May 2020 will be brought forward to March 2020. Third : an additional RM100 will be paid into the bank accounts of all BSH recipients in May 2020. Subsequently, an additional RM50 will be channelled in the form of e-tunai.

pmo.gov.my (06.04.2020) The additional measures are: First, the wage subsidy programme announced on 27 March will be expanded from RM5.9 billion to RM13.8 billion, an increase of RM7.9 billion. Under this additional initiative, all companies with local employees earning a monthly salary each of RM4,000 and below will receive wage subsidies as follows: For companies with a workforce of more than 200 people, we will provide a wage subsidy of RM600 per month for every retained worker. However, the maximum number of workers that a company is eligible to claim for will be increased from 100 to 200 employees.

ssa.gov (03.04.2020) The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) announced on April 1 that Social Security beneficiaries who are not typically required to file tax returns will not need to file an abbreviated tax return to receive an economic impact payment. The IRS will use the information on the Form SSA-1099 to generate $1,200 economic impact payments to Social Security beneficiaries who did not file tax returns in 2018 or 2019.

rappler.com (15.04.2020) Just like many COVID-19 patients fighting for their lives, what the Philippine economy needs right now is a sturdy ventilator for life support. But at the rate government is distributing aid, our economy’s ventilator seems dismally broken. On March 25, President Rodrigo Duterte signed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. This chiefly authorized him to marshal resources to fight COVID-19. That law also mandated government to hand out disaster relief. Specifically, it provided for a monthly “emergency subsidy” to help tide over 18 million households whose incomes and livelihoods have been diminished (or totally swept away) by the pandemic. But this aid program, no matter how well-meaning, is too little, too slow, and too politicized.

World Economic Forum (06.04.2020) The COVID-19 pandemic has helped widen global usage for chatbot technology. After the pandemic, the use of chatbots for healthcare applications will continue to grow. Public and private stakeholders must come together to maximize these benefits while minimizing risks.

nis.gov.bb (11.03.2020) NIS pensioners can have their pensions deposited to their bank and credit union accounts. Your pension can be issued for a four-week period instead of the two-week intervals to which you are accustomed.

ec.europa.eu (02.04.2020) The new instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE) is designed to help protect jobs and workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It will provide financial assistance, in the form of loans granted on favourable terms from the EU to Member States, of up to €100 billion in total. These loans will assist Member States to address sudden increases in public expenditure to preserve employment. Specifically, these loans will help Member States to cover the costs directly related to the creation or extension of national short-time work schemes, and other similar measures they have put in place for the self-employed as a response to the current coronavirus pandemic.

theglobeandmail.com (15.04.2020) The federal government expanding the Canada Emergency Response Benefit to include people making up to $1,000 a month, seasonal workers and people whose EI [employment insurance] has run out. 

noticias.anses.gob.ar (11.04.2020) La ANSES informa que los beneficiarios del Ingreso Familiar de Emergencia (IFE) que están comunicando desde hoy su número de Clave Bancaria Uniforme (CBU), comenzarán a cobrar los 10.000 pesos a partir del próximo 21 de abril y hasta el 5 de mayo inclusive. Cabe destacar que las acreditaciones se realizarán todos los días hábiles del período indicado en los CBU aportados por los titulares del beneficio extraordinario creado por el Gobierno nacional.