Government Benefits Megathread

trisha e

Could help all those people who lost jobs to get benefits quicker

Beasty

#98....

Tommy Max

can someone explain the wage subsidy scheme please. for example an employees average weekly net wage is €600. from what i gather the employer would get €350 for an employee on such a salary rate.

The employer is encouraged to make up the difference to return the employer to its normal salary. so the employer still needs to fund €250 itself.

if the employer refuses to do so? then the employee only gets the €350 but is working for less than half its contracted salary. the employee could get the same amount €350 on the emergency covid payment and not have to work if laid off and would be able to stay at home with kids and not be paying a child minder etc.

Am I missing something?

Beasty

Threads merged, and that special prize goes to....


....the previous poster;)

Former Coach

 The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has said that nearly all unemployment benefit claims received since 19 March and up to close of business yesterday will be processed for payment today and will be lodged in customers' bank accounts next Tuesday. 🤞

JCX BXC

Great, 2 weeks+ without money today and was almost first in the door with the form.

It's the lack of information that's particularly annoying.

Masala

Tommy Max wrote: »

can someone explain the wage subsidy scheme please. for example an employees average weekly net wage is €600. from what i gather the employer would get €350 for an employee on such a salary rate.

The employer is encouraged to make up the difference to return the employer to its normal salary. so the employer still needs to fund €250 itself.

if the employer refuses to do so? then the employee only gets the €350 but is working for less than half its contracted salary. the employee could get the same amount €350 on the emergency covid payment and not have to work if laid off and would be able to stay at home with kids and not be paying a child minder etc.

Am I missing something?

The €350 is for when stirring at home having be8ng laid off. The €600 is paid for turning up to work and doing 39 hours. If employee doesnt want to work for the difference then he has no option but to quit. He then can only claim €203 a week

No employer is going to pay €€600 a week so you can sit and play with your kids when he has work for you. If he has no work ... he will lay you off and you can sit with the €350 a week then.

Of course.. with yesterday’s figures on predicted unemployment.. you might not have a job to come back to and this €35O could revert bac5 t9 the normal €203 by then.

BarryD2

Dodge wrote: »

Other schemes apply. This is specifically for people who almost immediately have no income.

it has to be that for speed reasons. You can apply for other schemes but they’re obviously harder to quantify. This scheme has NO time

I’m not suggesting it’s perfect. I’m suggesting it’s a fairly decent scheme under a massive amount of pressure

What other schemes apply Dodge to self employed / sole traders as regards the Covid19 issue ????

Please point them out. Because I've looked and I'm sure others have looked and there ain't any as of yesterday.

I don't have any employees so that's irrelevant. I don't want a loan, because surprise - loans have to be paid back.

bruce wayne

Tommy Max wrote: »

can someone explain the wage subsidy scheme please. for example an employees average weekly net wage is €600. from what i gather the employer would get €350 for an employee on such a salary rate.

The employer is encouraged to make up the difference to return the employer to its normal salary. so the employer still needs to fund €250 itself.

if the employer refuses to do so? then the employee only gets the €350 but is working for less than half its contracted salary. the employee could get the same amount €350 on the emergency covid payment and not have to work if laid off and would be able to stay at home with kids and not be paying a child minder etc.

Am I missing something?

The revenue website explains it pretty well

https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/temporary-covid-19-wage-subsidy-scheme.aspx

Basically the scheme is a mechanism for employers to keep their employees on their books rather than having to let them go and for the employees to have to apply for the payment themselves.

Under the scheme, the employer can claim up to €410 per week for each employee. So their option is to send the employee home and reduce their salary down to €410, or if they can afford it they can top €410 amount and maintain their employees salary. So in the case of your example if the employee was earning €600, if the employer uses this scheme and they only need to top up the employees payment by €190 a week - thus reducing their wage bill and maintaining the employees salary.

It really all depends on what the employer can afford. If sales have fallen off a cliff and there is no money coming in, then at the very least they can apply this scheme and the employees get the €410 a week without the hassle of being let go and having to apply via welfare.

The scheme is only for companies that have been drastically hit by the crisis and there is no work for the employees, or they have been ordered to close down (coffee shop employees or hairdressers might be a good example)- it is not for employees that are still coming into work. If an employee is still coming into work they are to be paid their normal salary.

bruce wayne

BarryD2 wrote: »

What other schemes apply Dodge to self employed / sole traders as regards the Covid19 issue ????

Please point them out. Because I've looked and I'm sure others have looked and there ain't any as of yesterday.

I don't have any employees so that's irrelevant. I don't want a loan, because surprise - loans have to be paid back.

I believe the wage subsidy scheme applies to self employed and company directors if they are paid via the PAYE system. You could call revenue and ask them about your specific circumstances. Under the scheme you will be reimbursed up to €410 a week.

link here - https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/temporary-covid-19-wage-subsidy-scheme.aspx

Jack14

When are we getting paid this corvid19 payment I applied last Thursday and still no payment off work 2weeks

clevtrev

I doubt many employers will be in a position to top up if they manage to qualify for the income support scheme. the employer is meant to have an inability to pay normal wages and other outgoings (Like the ESB????). Revenue have also thrown in the kicker that there will be severe penalties for abuse of the scheme so why would an employer bother. Unless all the employees are still at work it is far simpler to put an employee on temporary layoff for €350 and see them after the virus is gone.

"Employers must self-declare to Revenue that they have experienced significant negative economic disruption due to Covid-19, with a minimum of 25% decline in turnover, and an inability to pay normal wages and other outgoings, in accordance with guidance to be issued by Revenue. There will be severe penalties for any abuse of the scheme."

bruce wayne

bruce wayne wrote: »

I believe the wage subsidy scheme applies to self employed and company directors if they are paid via the PAYE system. You could call revenue and ask them about your specific circumstances. Under the scheme you will be reimbursed up to €410 a week.

link here - https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/temporary-covid-19-wage-subsidy-scheme.aspx

This is not applicable to the vast majority of self employed people.

I see in the UK they're offering financial assistance to the self employed while allowing them to keep whatever work they can. This is the sensible approach IMO.

Galway20188

Former Coach wrote: »

 The Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has said that nearly all unemployment benefit claims received since 19 March and up to close of business yesterday will be processed for payment today and will be lodged in customers' bank accounts next Tuesday. ðŸ€ž

Any clarity on if this includes backpay for people who applied but didn’t receive payment this week?

Blowup

I sent them an email yesterday and this was the reply:

The next payment run is tomorrow night so if you have applied it should pick it up.

If you have concerns reapply online.

Meaning Friday night (today) just don't know when it will hit our banks.

Former Coach

Galway20188 wrote: »

Any clarity on if this includes backpay for people who applied but didn’t receive payment this week?

Nothing that I’ve seen mention of sadly. Guess we’ll just have to wait until Tuesday🤞🙏

Smurf123

I was on a working holiday visa in Canada and I had to move back home due to the corona virus. Does anyone know if I’m entitled to the Covid-19 payments or do I apply for job seekers payments ?

easypazz

Galway20188 wrote: »

Any clarity on if this includes backpay for people who applied but didn’t receive payment this week?

It will be backdated.

Wanderer19

bruce wayne wrote: »

The revenue website explains it pretty well

https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/temporary-covid-19-wage-subsidy-scheme.aspx

Basically the scheme is a mechanism for employers to keep their employees on their books rather than having to let them go and for the employees to have to apply for the payment themselves.

Under the scheme, the employer can claim up to €410 per week for each employee. So their option is to send the employee home and reduce their salary down to €410, or if they can afford it they can top €410 amount and maintain their employees salary. So in the case of your example if the employee was earning €600, if the employer uses this scheme and they only need to top up the employees payment by €190 a week - thus reducing their wage bill and maintaining the employees salary.

It really all depends on what the employer can afford. If sales have fallen off a cliff and there is no money coming in, then at the very least they can apply this scheme and the employees get the €410 a week without the hassle of being let go and having to apply via welfare.

The scheme is only for companies that have been drastically hit by the crisis and there is no work for the employees, or they have been ordered to close down (coffee shop employees or hairdressers might be a good example)- it is not for employees that are still coming into work. If an employee is still coming into work they are to be paid their normal salary.

The employee can be working - although it may be on reduced hours, or no hours. Just because you've lost a minimum of 25% of your business doesn't mean you don't need any staff, but it may not be viable to keep everyone at their normal rate. This is to retain the link with the employer, and also gets the employer to do the job of making payments on behalf of SW.

Wanderer19

Smurf123 wrote: »

I was on a working holiday visa in Canada and I had to move back home due to the corona virus. Does anyone know if I’m entitled to the Covid-19 payments or do I apply for job seekers payments ?

You need to apply for jobseekers. You would of had to be registered with an employer in Feb and March to claim the emergency payment.

BarryD2

bruce wayne wrote: »

I believe the wage subsidy scheme applies to self employed and company directors if they are paid via the PAYE system. You could call revenue and ask them about your specific circumstances. Under the scheme you will be reimbursed up to €410 a week.

link here - https://revenue.ie/en/corporate/communications/covid19/temporary-covid-19-wage-subsidy-scheme.aspx

Possibly if you set yourself up as a limited company and paid yourself as an employee. But would think the vast majority of self employed are 'sole traders' and neither an employer nor a employee.

Irishdreamer

Apologies if my question has been answered already!

I'm a bit confused about the wage subsidy scheme. The business I work for has two different lots of staff.
One set of staff are paid by a funding body & the business itself (the business only pays a small percentage of the actual wages for these staff).
The second set of staff are paid entirely by the business, no funding received for their wages.

So we are assuming that we cannot apply for the scheme for the set of staff with wages paid for by funding & business.
However could we apply for the scheme for the staff whose wages the business pays for entirely on it's own?

If we can apply for the scheme for the second set of staff, say an employee has gross wages of €250 - how does that work with the scheme as the wages are less than the €410? Do we get 70% of the €250 back & we pay the 30%?

All our staff are working from home so we are continuing to pay their wages however with no income for the business at the moment, we may start to have issues paying the full wages of the second set of staff. We would like to keep paying them & are hoping we can apply for the wage subsidy scheme.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

zweton

got the dreaded call this morning from my manager, they have told me they will pay 430 a week, does this mean I can still qualify for the covid benefit? As in get 430 from employer and 350 for the Covid?

splinter65

zweton wrote: »

got the dreaded call this morning from my manager, they have told me they will pay 430 a week, does this mean I can still qualify for the covid benefit? As in get 430 from employer and 350 for the Covid?

No. What is your normal weeks wages?

zweton

splinter65 wrote: »

No. What is your normal weeks wages?

1000 a week after tax

Limpy

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zweton wrote: »

1000 a week after tax

Its capped. If you got the covid19 payment you would get 350, your employer then could top you up 30%.. they need too show business has dropped 25%?

splinter65

zweton wrote: »

1000 a week after tax

You’re going to get €410. Wether or not your employer tops up that €410 or how much he tops it up is between you and him but no, you don’t get the €350 too.

brianregan09

Hi have a question , basically I'm on Disability Allowance and I can work up to 12 hours (comes under rehabilitative work i think) is there anything available to me to cover my loss of 12 hours , my employer is paying all our full time staff the covid 19 scheme but I don't know where I fall in this am I just going to lose my extra 100 euros a week ?

brianomc

When you apply for the 350 pandemic payment online it says in the notification afterwards that "If you are applying for COVID-19 Pandemic Unemployment Payment, you will also need to apply for Jobseekers".

If we have been laid off temporarily but we expect to be back open in May if this thing clears up, is there any point in applying for jobseekers? Maybe I am overlooking something.

Thanks in advance

celt262

What's the story where the employers business is down by 50% but they can afford to pay wages for the next 6 weeks. Can they get on the 70/30 scheme?

I ask as the company i work for are saying they cannot get it as they have money in the bank to pay wages for 6 weeks. They are not doing this and have put us on 2 day weeks and asking us to sign on for 3 days.