Weekly unemployment payments will decrease from $150 to $100 as of Friday, Minister of Public Service and National Insurance Brensil Rolle said yesterday.
The payments, which are issued by the government through the National Insurance Board (NIB), are for individuals impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It gives 13 weeks of support to individuals who have already received the legal limit of 13 weeks of unemployment benefit from NIB.
It also extends the unemployment assistance program set up to cover those who would not normally qualify for the benefit.
The government gave weekly payments of $200 when the program started in March.
It decreased the payments to $150 on July 1.
“The government continues to provide assistance to individuals who we know are, maybe, desperate,” Rolle said.
“We are doing our best to provide assistance and some income support to those individuals at this time.”
The program was set to expire last month.
However, it was extended as thousands of individuals continue to struggle with unemployment amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the second time the program has been extended.
“The first extension, as you may recall, was in July when we thought that we were going to reopen,” Rolle said.
“We took individuals up to July and then we didn’t open, we added this program was to be 13 weeks. Now that [we] have the lockdowns, we extended the assistance through December.”
Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest has said that continuation of the program will cost the government $45 million.
The post Unemployment payments to decrease as of Friday appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/unemployment-payments-to-decrease-as-of-friday/
No comments:
Post a Comment