SZW already paid out 1000 requests for emergency regulation

Since the emergency regulation of SZW came into effect at the beginning of this month, requests have been received for more than two thousand persons on Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius. Half of these have already been paid out. In order to make this possible, employees of the RCN-unit SZW worked most of last Easter weekend.

The temporary regulation applies for a period of three months and has a retroactive effect from March 13th, 2020. To be eligible for the regulation, there must be a loss of turnover of at least twenty percent in connection with the coronavirus. When granted, eighty percent of the employee’s wages are paid to the employer for the hours that the employee cannot work. This amount must be passed on to the employee as salary.

The regulation also applies to employees with a zero-hour contract or a temporary contract. Independent entrepreneurs with no income can claim a supplement of up to eighty percent of the statutory minimum wage. People who no longer have an employer because of the coronavirus can submit an application for support themselves with the local unit of SZW. This is possible if their contract has not been renewed or because they were on their probationary period. They can claim eighty percent of their last-earned wages.

More information about the emergency regulation of SZW and the application forms can be found on www.rijksdienstcn.com/covid-19.

RCN – SZW