20 January 2021
RE: Representations to Minister for Social Protection regarding Loss of Earnings Due to Restricting Your Movements
Dear Member,
Please see below letters to Minister Humphreys in the above regard for your information.
We will keep you updated as and when we receive a response.
Yours fraternally
For Mandate Trade Union
Jonathan Hogan
National Coordinator
———————————————————————————————–
Heather Humphreys
Minister for Social Protection
Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection
Aras Mhic Dhiarmada
Store Street
North Dock
Dublin 1
JH/LF
19 January 2021
RE: Restrict Your Movement and the Loss of Income
Dear Minister Humphreys
Further to my letter to you of the 22nd September 2020 and your response of the 8th October 2020 regarding the Union’s concerns for our members who have to restrict their movements as opposed to self-isolating and who find themselves ineligible for any payment from their employer in this regard, please be advised of the following.
You state that the “purpose of the Enhanced Illness Benefit Payment in respect of COVID-19 is to encourage people to not go to work due to financial constraint when they should be in isolation. The enhanced rate of Illness Benefit was brought in as a short-term public health measure and is not a long-term income support payment. The measures were designed to ensure that where a registered medical practitioner or a HSE medical officer of health diagnoses a person with COVID-19 or identifies him or her as a probable source of infection of COVID-19, that the person can comply with medical advice to isolate”.
Notwithstanding the above, you failed to accept that our members and a growing number during these unfortunate times are incomeless during these “restricting your movements” scenarios. You go on to advise that they are entitled to claim “the Pandemic Unemployment Payment or Jobseekers Benefit/Allowance. If not eligible for those payments then they may apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance”.
It is now the case at the height of the pandemic, that the Union’s concerns regarding the non-payment of wages to “restrict your movements” is severely impacting our members working in retail and specifically on the frontline. Our members have experienced the brunt of this with virus transmission from worker to worker causing retail units to temporally close and redeploy staff. In the absence of a paid wage or legal obligation on the employer to pay wages during this specific time and given the concerns above, can you confirm whether it is government policy that frontline workers are not entitled to be paid at no loss of earnings through the social welfare system during temporary periods of restricting their movements. If this is the case, can you also confirm whether it is government policy for public service frontline workers to get fully paid for restricting their movements.
Notwithstanding the honourable argument that private sector employers, such as large grocery retailers, pharmacy chains, etc., operating their business on the frontline during Covid should be ensuring that their employees are not disadvantaged financially due to occasions where one has to restrict their movements and particularly where the transmission has undeniably passed from one worker to another, Mandate’s position is that the State should for both economic and public health reasons step in and subsidise the loss of income for our frontline retail workers, ensuring that they are not out of pocket.
They have undoubtedly put their own health second to their community, the customers they serve and the general public who have survived through their efforts. It must become public policy that all frontline workers in this country be given every resource and financial support during these distressing times, in order to assist the prevention and transmission of the virus. I am asking that every frontline retail worker, who has to restrict their movements for temporary periods are not financially disadvantaged. As with my correspondence in September 2020, I will be copying this to Minister Donnelly.
Yours sincerely
For Mandate Trade Union
Jonathan Hogan
National Coordinator
——————————————————————————————
Heather Humphreys
Minister for Social Protection
Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection
Aras Mhic Dhiarmada
Store Street
North Dock
Dublin 1
JH/LF
19 January 2021
RE: Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme from January 2021
Dear Minister Humphreys
I am writing to you on behalf of our members, many of whom now find themselves disadvantaged financially by the application of the new current Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme. Further to the Government’s decision to change the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme in late 2020 and the newly proposed period to be reviewed to determine eligibility for the scheme which will now require that employers demonstrate a 30% reduction in revenue between 1st January 2021 and 30th June 2021 compared to the same period in 2019 etc., please be advised of the following.
The impact of the Government’s changes regarding the scheme rules have apparently prevented some employers being able to subsidise the earning levels of our low paid members during non-trading periods. Due to time delays in how employers can claim outstanding monies owed to them under the EWSS rules and the uncertainty of whether the employer will be eligible or not, it is clear that cash flow may be preventing some employers from maintaining adequate levels of income to their employees. The effect of the Government’s changes are detrimentally impacting low paid workers within the sector and forcing non trading employers who wish to maintain the employment relationship to laying off workers unnecessarily.
Whilst we accept that employers have their part to play in protecting low paid workers, we are presently engaged with a number of employers who are reasonably trying to maintain the employment relationship and as a result of the above, employers who are not trading are in some cases paying staff a percentage of normal pay from within their own cash reserves, resulting in remunerated amounts being paid that are insufficient. Due to many of our members working part-time hours, the changes above have seen some workers within the sector receiving a wage of less than 11 hours per week, leaving many with no ability to subsidise their lost income through any other immediate social welfare means that we are aware of.
On behalf of the thousands of members we represent, Mandate is seeking an immediate review of the scheme/s and in doing so, we are requesting that every financial support is put in place to subsidise those workers who are now being paid directly by their employer in circumstances where their employment is not currently trading and where they are in receipt of a wage that is effectively less than the basic Job Seekers Payment.
Yours sincerely
For Mandate Trade Union
Jonathan Hogan
National Coordinator