There are concerns about the impact of the state of emergency on employment.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is calling on companies to maintain employment by actively utilizing employment adjustment subsidies.
The "employment adjustment subsidy" is a system in which the government subsidizes part of the leave allowance, etc., when the company maintains employment by taking employees off even if sales decrease.
Based on the impact of the new coronavirus, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has increased the maximum amount of subsidy per person per day from 8370 yen to 15,000 yen, and the subsidy rate such as leave allowance paid to employees has been increased to 75% for large companies. Small and medium-sized enterprises are implementing special measures such as raising it to 100%.
The subsidy is available not only for daily leave but also for shortening the working hours of employees by one hour or more due to shortened business hours.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to extend this special measure until the end of February.
Applications for use are accepted not only by the Labor Bureau and Hello Work offices, but also by mail or online.
Consultations are accepted at the call center of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The number is "0120-60-3999".
Weekdays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays are open from 9am to 9pm.
Utilization of the "leave of absence support fund" system
It is expected that there will be an increasing number of cases in which companies take employees off due to shortened business hours in response to a state of emergency.
The Labor Standards Law stipulates that if an employee is taken off by the instructions of a company, he / she must pay a "leave allowance" of 60% or more of the average wage.
However, there is a risk that some companies will not pay the leave allowance due to poor business performance.
In such cases, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is calling for the use of the “leave of absence support” system.
The "leave of absence support fund" is a system that supports people who are not paid the leave allowance even though they have taken leave due to the influence of the new coronavirus.
For those who work in small and medium-sized enterprises, 80% of the wages will be paid directly up to 11,000 yen a day for the leave from April last year.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has decided to extend the target period until the end of February.
You can use the leave support fund by applying from the worker or the company.
Applications are accepted by mail and online.
Continued work at Labor Bureau and Hello Work
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, as a general rule, labor bureaus and Hello Work offices in each region can continue to provide labor consultations, job offers, and subsidy application reception even while an emergency is declared.
In order to receive unemployment benefits from employment insurance, you usually need to go to Hello Work once every four weeks and get an "unemployment certification" to confirm that you are unemployed.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is considering measures to receive an emergency declaration targeting one metropolitan area and three prefectures so that "unemployment certification" can be sent by mail.