The unemployment benefits released by the Social Security System (SSS) surged by 407 percent in the first half of the year, as many became jobless due to the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
The SSS said in a statement yesterday unemployment benefit disbursements in the first semester amounted to P732.15 million, which was released to 54,282 members.
It also noted a 355 percent increase in the number of member beneficiaries from 11,917 in January to June last year.
Aurora Ignacio, SSS president and chief executive officer, said the steep jump of benefit releases is associated with the increase in members’ awareness on the availability of the said benefit for those who were involuntarily separated from work mainly due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re glad that this program was able to assist our workers in the private sector especially during these times that majority were left jobless due to the pandemic,” Ignacio said.
“Aside from that, the safety and convenience of our online services and checkless disbursements helped our qualified members to get their benefits on time which really served their purpose,” she added.
The unemployment benefit is one of the landmark provisions of Republic Act No.11199 or Social Security Act of 2018 effective March 5, 2019.
Qualified are covered employees, including household helpers and overseas Filipino workers who were involuntarily separated from employment due to economic downturn, natural or human-induced calamities/disasters, installation of labor-saving devices; redundancy; retrenchment or downsizing; closure or cessation of operation; and disease or illness of the employee whose continued employment is prohibited by law or is prejudicial to his or her co-employees’ health.
Moreover, members must not be more than 60 years old at the time of involuntary separation. In the case of underground or surface mineworkers and racehorse jockeys, they should not be more than 50 and 55 years old, respectively.
Members must have also paid at least 36 monthly contributions, 12 months of which should have been paid within the 18-month period before the involuntary separation.
Qualified members will receive a monthly cash benefit which is equivalent to 50 percent of a member’s average monthly salary credit (AMSC) for a maximum of two months.
For example, a member-applicant with an AMSC of P16,000 will receive two-month unemployment benefits worth P16,000 or P8,000 for each month.
Benefit claim should be filed within one year from the date of the member’s involuntary separation. However, if the one-year deadline for filing falls on March 5, 2020, up until the last day of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)/general community quarantine (GCQ), the involuntary separated member may still file the claims until 60 days from the declaration by the government of the end or the last day of the ECQ/GCQ.
