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.

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.

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.

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.

EURACTIV.com (14.01.2021) The Spanish government is ready to approve before Friday (15 January) an extension of temporary lay-off schemes put in place March last year to protect jobs for around 800,000 workers affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in the tourism and services sectors. Under the scheme, the Spanish state gives workers about 70% of their salary and prohibits companies from firing people. In case of fraud or redundancies, companies must return exemptions from contributions to the social security system and risk heavy penalties.