Support schemes extended, cheques for those who have not received allowance

The Labour Ministry will issue cheques to those who have applied and are eligible for special allowances under the five support schemes but whose bank accounts it has not been able to verify.

In an announcement on Sunday announcing the extension of the support schemes until May 12, the ministry said that it will from tomorrow start issuing cheques to all those whose bank accounts it has not been able to verify and all those who had not submitted a bank account as there is no other way to pay the allowance.

The cheques will cover the period of March 16 to April 12, it said.

The ministry added that it has published six decisions relating to the support schemes and these have been posted on the website coronavirus.mlsi.gov.cy.

The five schemes are child care allowance, sick leave, the self-employed, complete suspension of operations of a business and partial suspension. These were in force from March 16 to April 12, and will now also apply from April 13 to May 12 with the following changes:

• All those who first started work in February and March 2020 will be included on condition that their names are submitted by their employer on the new document ΕΕΑ7 and their salary is submitted
• The minimum allowance of €360 for a period of four weeks is implemented retroactively
• The bigger of the two amounts of the last salary and the insurance preconditions of 2018 is paid retroactively as special unemployment benefit and sick leave

Additional allowance has already been paid as regards the schemes that had retroactive effect, the ministry said.

In addition, the ministry has published a new scheme for all those who are unemployed and exhausted their benefits in February and March. Under the new scheme, they will receive a special allowance of €360.

New electronic applications will be posted on the website on Tuesday so all those eligible can apply online, it added.

Finally, the ministry said that an extension has been given for the payment of the March social insurance contributions to May 14 without any penalty.

Payments can be made on JCC Smart.