Push Admin

House bill seeks to triple separation benefit of laid off workers

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/news/02/05/20210201-covid-oneyear-commuters-fsj-1378.jpg"/><figcaption>Commuters line up to board the bus while observing health safety protocol, at the Roosevelt bus station in Quezon City on February 1, 2021.<em> Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - A lawmaker has filed a bill that seeks to triple the separation benefit that laid off workers can claim from the Social Security System (SSS) as the COVID-19 pandemic continue to hit the economy.</p><p>Under House Bill 8594 filed by Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, dislocated workers can claim unemployment benefits equal to 50 percent of their monthly salary for a maximum of 6 months.</p><p>Displaced workers may currently receive 50 percent of their monthly salary for a maximum of 2 months.</p><p>The benefit is available to SSS members who have paid at least 36 monthly contributions, 12 months of which should be in the period immediately preceding the month of involuntary separation.</p><p>Household staff and overseas Filipino workers may also avail of the benefit, according to Pimentel.</p><p>“We have to guarantee households income security and safeguard them against distress when breadwinners lose their jobs through no fault of their own,” he said in a statement Sunday.</p><p>Some 5 million Filipinos have lost their jobs due to the pandemic, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III earlier said. The agency has about P16 billion to assist those who lost their jobs and an additional P3 billion specifically for those who worked in the tourism sector, he said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/04/21/some-5-million-filipinos-lost-their-jobs-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-dole">Some 5 million Filipinos lost their jobs due to COVID-19 pandemic: DOLE</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/02/03/21/kawalan-ng-trabaho-sa-bansa-nasa-second-wave-na-employers-group">Kawalan ng trabaho sa bansa nasa &#x27;second wave&#x27; na: employers&#x27; group</a></li></ul><p>Among the severely hit were airlines and the tourism sector as the novel coronavirus prompted the public to stay home.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/02/02/21/pal-cutting-workforce-by-2300-as-pandemic-continues-to-weigh-down-flights">PAL cutting workforce by 2,300 as pandemic continues to weigh down flights</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/06/24/20/cebu-pacific-to-lay-off-workers-as-travel-demand-nosedives-due-to-covid-19">Cebu Pacific to lay off workers as travel demand nosedives due to COVID-19</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/05/27/20/okada-manila-to-lay-off-1000-workers-due-to-covid-19-losses">Okada Manila to lay off 1,000 workers due to COVID-19 losses</a></li></ul><p>The Philippine economy had shrunk 8.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, resulting in a full year contraction of 9.5 percent, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/01/28/21/philippine-economy-shrinks-83-percent-in-fourth-quarter-full-2020-growth-at-95-pct">PH posts worst GDP contraction since World War 2 with -9.5 pct growth rate in 2020</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4btilG1lIHg?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

<p>A lawmaker has filed a bill that seeks to triple the separation benefit that laid off workers can claim from the Social Security System (SSS) as the COVID-19 pandemic continue to hit the economy.</p>

A lawmaker has filed a bill that seeks to triple the separation benefit that laid off workers can claim from the Social Security System (SSS) as the COVID-19 pandemic continue to hit the economy.