Dublin: The temporary wage subsidy that helped thousands of workers has been slashed. Under the new wage subsidy scheme effective from today, the share of employers has been halved.
The EWSS is an important part of the employment stimulus package announced by the government in July. From today, the wage subsidy will be at least €203 per week. Employers will need to re-register to join the new €2.2bn scheme, which replaces the existing temporary wage subsidy scheme.
The scheme will continue for another eight months. The maximum benefit rate under the current scheme is up to €410 per week.
Under the new rules, there will be two subsidy rates. Each employee earning more than €203 per week will receive a €203 subsidy. Employees earning between €151.50 and €202.99 per week will receive a subsidy of €151.50. Over €2.7bn has been paid to over 69,500 employers for over 600,000 workers under the current scheme.
The Revenue Commissioner said 12,000 employers had signed up for the new scheme. It will benefit 370,000 employees.
To take benefit of the new scheme, employers must certify that their turnover between July and December this year was not more than 70% of the same period last year.
Finance Minister Pascal Dono said the PRSI share of employers for jobs under the subsidy scheme would remain at a low rate of 0.5%. The plan runs until March 31 next year.
Minister Dono said the plan aims to provide more jobs and encourages employers to take benefit of this. The minister also stated that only a portion of employers have signed up for the new scheme, allowing use of the current system.
However, a total of 69,500 employers are registered with the Revenue under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme.