The National Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020 was passed in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, 13 October. The Bill which will see the inclusion of temporary unemployment benefits, was laid by the Premier and Minister for Finance, Investment and Trade and Statutory Bodies, Honourable Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson.
In response to the significant increase in unemployment due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy, the National Insurance Board was engaged by the Premier and Minister of Finance, Investment and Trade to provide a resolve.
The outcome of those discussions was a proposal to Cabinet, to establish and fund a temporary unemployment assistance benefit in the sum of $4.2 million.
The National Insurance Board has approved $4.2 million for payout in unemployment benefits this year. In 2018, consultations were conducted countrywide on the introduction of an unemployment benefit and concluding those consultations.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government requested its actuary to produce a feasibility paper on the introduction of an unemployment insurance provision to the Turks and Caicos Islands National Insurance System to which the Actuary concluded that an unemployment insurance programme seems feasible. It is the Actuary’s belief that adding the programme to the current TCI National Insurance System would have no significant impact on the financial sustainability of the system as it currently exists. The report also set out parameters for the benefit for consideration which are proposed as follows:
– Contributors would need to have a minimum of 250 or five years of contributions, with special provisions for Turks and Caicos Islanders and permanent residence card holders.
-The applicant must either have been laid-off or terminated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
– The benefit rate is set at 50% of the individual’s average weekly insurable earnings and is payable for an initial period of eight (8) weeks or until the exhaustion of the $4.2 million.
The Premier commenting on the Bill stated, “The National Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2020 is a remarkable and important initiative that my Government is proud to have delivered to the people of these islands. We believe that there is no better time to roll out this programme than now – when our people are in urgent need of further support amidst this COVID-19 pandemic.
The implementation of a permanent unemployment benefit has also been agreed for April 2022. I wish to thank the Ministry of Finance and the National Insurance Board who has worked hard to ensure that this programme is progressed to completion.”
The programme is an unemployment insurance therefore, all applicants will need to be unemployed in order to qualify for the benefit. The fund is estimated to assist up to 2,200 insured persons.
