As 63,000 came off the pandemic unemployment payments last week, the Government has updated the eligibility criteria for the unemployment and enhanced illness benefit payments. These changes will come into effect on July 6th, 2020, and employers and employees should make themselves aware of these changes.
The main points to note in the changes are:What Employers Need To Know About Covid-19
- Employees whose average weekly earnings in 2019 or January and February 2020 (whichever is the higher) were less than €200 gross will receive a weekly Pandemic Unemployment Payment of €203 a week. This equates to the standard jobseeker rate of payment and as it is higher than the person’s prior earnings will still mean that people, who receive €203 per week, are in receipt of a higher income than they had prior to being laid-off due to Covid-19.
- Employees with average earnings of €200 or more a week will continue to receive €350 Pandemic Unemployment Payment. 3 in 4 recipients (75%) will continue to receive €350 per week.
- The payment to self-employed people has been assessed based on their 2018 returns to the Revenue Commissioners (Returns for 2019 are not due until later in 2020).
This is an area where many companies are seeking assistance. We can give guidance on the schemes and the rates to apply to any employer. Feel free to contact us on 052 61 37775 or complete the form below.