Government mulls unemployment benefits for private sector layoffs
View(s):Sri Lanka’s relief measures including payment of compensation and proposed social security scheme is set to expand unemployment benefits for thousands of private sector employees who lose their jobs due to the COVID-19 contagion.
At least 500,000 private sector employees are faced with the prospect of losing their jobs due to the collapse of Sri Lankan businesses following the coronavirus blow, a senior Labour Ministry official said.
Of this so far about 450,000 tourism-industry workers have lost their jobs in Sri Lanka as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic deepens. The job loss includes 180,000 direct employees with the rest from indirectly-related industries, the official said.
A trade union leader said that another 30,000 have lost their jobs on a general count and added that more will have to face the threat of job losses in the future.
The Labour Department has already proposed the establishment of a comprehensive integrated social security scheme including unemployment benefit scheme linked to re-skilling, re-employment, and up-skilling.
The government has been urged to establish a permanent “Social Protection Fund” on a bill adopted in Parliament, Anton Marcus Joint Secretary Free Trade Zones & General Services Employees Union told the Business Times.
He said they proposed that the fund be established with state revenue from the government’s forfeit on tax holidays, tax rebates, tax concessions and tax waivers provided for investors in the export manufacture sector.
Unions have proposed that at least 5 per cent of this forfeited state revenue be diverted to the “Social Protection Fund”. Mr. Marcus said that from this fund, they propose a monthly “Unemployment Allowance” of Rs.15,000 based on due adjustments to the national minimum wage considering future inflation.
Measures will be taken to ease the financial burden on the employers that will sustain the businesses while retaining employment with deducted salaries for those who have been made to stay at home due to non-availability of work.
Short-term lay-off strategies which ensure return to work to full time positions within a six-month period with the payment of a certain percentage of the wage instead of terminating them are being implemented.
Both the EPF and ETF contributions have been continued during this time – guaranteeing continued social security, the Labour Ministry official said.
The government has devised a mechanism through which employees and employers can discuss employee issues with Labour Department officials and find solutions.
This is through a separate division established at the department to consider representations submitted by private sector employees whose services had been terminated by employers who had to close down their businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
Private sector employees who lost their jobs can make complaints to the department with regard to any injustice faced by them and make an appeal for compensation, he revealed.
“They can make complaints to the regional, district labour offices and the department directly,” he said adding that their applications would be considered case-by-case.
Department officials in consultation, compromise and consensus with trade unions and the Employer’s Federation have ensured the job security of private sector employees, he said.
The department will direct employers to pay compensation for retrenched employers by considering the period of service in accordance with the Termination of Employment (Special Provisions) Act, he said.
(BS)