Over $2.4M paid in underemployment, unemployment benefits so far– Hon Wheatley
Honourable Wheatley made the revelation during the Thirteenth Sitting of the Second Session of the Fourth House of Assembly (HoA) in Duff's Bottom, Tortola, on Tuesday, July 21, 2020.
He said the Social Security Board has received a total of 7,650 claims to date.
Of that amount, 1,738 have been paid for a total of $2,421,238.32.
“Mister Speaker, we have reached the peak of the processing of COVID-19 unemployment /underemployment claim applications. It is estimated that the processing of the unemployment claims will be completed within two weeks, and drastically reduce the outstanding underemployment claims,” he noted.
Hon Wheatley stated; however, that the underemployment claims are taking more time to process because of the intricacies involved, such as researching information to verify the claim, and calculating the level of unemployment as persons get paid varying amounts from one month to the next in some cases.
Employers paying contributions
“One big positive, Mister Speaker, is that as a result of this process numerous employers have been paying in contributions and underemployment benefits are being reviewed and processed on accurate figures,” he added.
He said with regards to those individuals whose contributions are not up to date; the SSB has been calling those persons.
“The Board has been requesting that those persons submit their payslips, any other proof of employment, or encourage their employer to pay their outstanding contributions. We are pleased to report that the methods have been working well, and claims are being adjusted and paid. It is important to note that a claim cannot be denied due to non-payment of contribution,” the minister said.
Approximately 10 million dollars has been set aside for persons whose income has been affected because of COVID-19 from the $62.9M COVID-19 Economic Stimulus-Response Plan.
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12 Responses to “Over $2.4M paid in underemployment, unemployment benefits so far– Hon Wheatley”
The below statement is nonsense!
“The Board has been requesting that those persons submit ... or encourage their employer to pay their outstanding contributions."
SSB is supposed to get law enforcement authorities involved in collecting amounts owed by employers who SSB put in place as its agents to deduct it from employees pay. Otherwise, let us all tell our employers do NOT deduct amounts from our pay and we will pay SSB and NHI accordingly. SSB wants to get out of their responsibility of collecting amounts due from employers and enforcing the SS and NHI laws and regulations. This is xxxxng stupidness. And they get away with it because the lay man does not know his rights. This is real xxxxng $hit.
I will see if this gets posted.
You yourself sound so stupid to think that employees can persuade employers to pay what they owe SSB. The employees do not owe SSB and therefore MUST get their benefits.
STOP trying to twist the truth of the laws of contract and agency with your ignorant commemt. That is why so many make wrong decisions: because of the ignorant information that they receive. Looks like people like you do not want others to know the truth
Tell me how can someone making over $70,000 over 2 yrs with social contributions made and up-to-date receive a check for 2000 and someone making less than $30,000 receive a check for $3000.00.
I bet that would never happen!!