Employment adjustment subsidies Approximately 270,000 consultations nationwide Total impact of new corona May 12 18:12

Amid a series of companies that are forced to take leave due to the effect of the new coronavirus, the number of consultations on the country's "employment adjustment subsidy" for maintaining employment is about 270,000 cases nationwide I understand. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, about 5000 grants have been decided so far, and we continue to call for the use of the system.

The "Employment Adjustment Subsidy" is a system that subsidizes a portion of the expenses if a company whose sales have decreased does not dismiss an employee and pays a leave allowance.

In response to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is calling for active use by gradually increasing the subsidy rate and other measures.

Consultations from companies were inundated at the labor bureau counter, and NHK interviewed 47 labor bureaus nationwide, and the number of consultations was about 14 to 11 February due to the start of system expansion. It turned out that there were 270,000 cases.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, there are 12,857 applications from companies required to receive subsidies by 11th, and 5054 applications have been decided.

The labor bureaus in each region are strengthening the system by increasing the number of staff who will respond at the counter and proceeding with examinations on Saturdays and Sundays, and we think that the number of consultations and applications from companies will increase further in the future.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is simplifying the procedures and gradually shortening the period required for payment from the usual two months to about two weeks, and is calling for the continued utilization of the system.

"The road to application is too steep."

Regarding the "employment adjustment subsidy" that the government is calling for the use of to maintain the employment of employees, the izakaya in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, applied for more than 70 documents last month. "The road to application is too steep," said a manager.

Takamasa Sakushi, who runs three izakaya in the center of Morioka City, has reduced the scale of operations since last month due to the influence of the new coronavirus, and has closed all stores from the 23rd.

Although he tried to use the employment adjustment subsidy by paying leave allowances to 11 employees, he said that there were 10 types of application documents, and there were many documents that needed to be attached, such as attendance records and pay slips.

Especially since last month's leave was gradual, we had to calculate each salary and leave allowance, and it took 3 weeks to complete the application documents.

The final number of documents created was 71, and Mr. Sakushi submitted the documents to the Labor Bureau on the 28th of last month.

Mr. Sakushi said, “I had a lot of documents and the consultation desk was confused and I received a false explanation. Thank you for the system itself, but the road to application is too steep.”

Mr. Sakushi has restarted the operation of one of the three stores from the 7th of this month, but he is paid about 2 million yen a month for the leave allowance and rent, and demands an early payment of the employment adjustment subsidy. I am.

"I want you to simplify the procedure"

The owner of a restaurant that plans to apply for the “Employment Adjustment Subsidy” said that he wanted the procedure to be simple.

Yumiko Mochizuki (37), who has run an izakaya in Itabashi Ward for nearly 10 years, employs two people, a full-time cook and a part-time job. The monthly salary is 280,000 yen for cooks and over 50,000 yen for part-time jobs mainly on weekends.

Due to the spread of the new coronavirus, the izakaya has been closed since the 5th of last month, and the sales of about 2.5 million yen per month at most have disappeared. For this reason, Mochizuki decided to pay rent of 250,000 yen a month from his savings, pay leave allowance without dismissing employees, and use employment adjustment subsidy. ..

Mr. Mochizuki first prepared six types of documents, such as documents describing the implementation plan and sales, in order to receive the subsidy for the leave allowance paid to the cook. However, there are many technical terms and it took time to understand the contents correctly.

Then, on the 10th of last month, I tried to submit 6 types of documents to the local Hello Work, but I was pointed out that they were not filled out, and prepared 11 types of documents that include the average wage and employment regulations. It was explained that.

Mr. Mochizuki said, "I didn't think I needed so many documents, and I've never prepared such a large amount of documents. It's a pain because I don't have any income. I was talking.

Consideration such as raising the maximum amount of government subsidies

While the impact of the new coronavirus, such as companies having to take leave for a long period of time, has expanded, efforts have been made to expand subsidies to maintain employment, but companies have said that it is difficult to utilize. In light of this, the government is considering increasing the maximum amount of subsidies.

The employment adjustment subsidy is a system in which a company maintains employment without dismissing employees even if sales decrease, and subsidizes a part of the paid leave allowance. According to the Labor Standards Law, if a worker is taken to leave due to the company's circumstances, he or she must pay a "leave allowance" of 60% or more of the average wage.

Since February, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has been calling for the use of the system regardless of company circumstances, such as expanding employment adjustment subsidies, to pay leave allowances and maintain employment.

Specifically, if the subsidy rate was raised gradually, and no one was dismissed, it was set at
ⅰ for small and medium enterprises and
⅓ for large enterprises.

Furthermore, for small and medium-sized enterprises, there is a request for leave from the prefecture, and if the leave allowance that exceeds a certain level such as the wage is paid, the full amount will be paid, and even if there is no request, the amount will exceed 60% of the wage. If you pay the leave allowance, you will be subsidized in full for the excess.

However, in any case, the maximum amount of subsidy is 8330 yen per person per day, and the amount exceeding that will be the burden on the company. Therefore, even if the subsidy rate is raised, there is an upper limit Some people said, "It's big," or "the procedure is complicated."

For this reason, the government is considering increasing the maximum amount of employment adjustment subsidies and considering unemployed people who are on leave as unemployment benefits.

In addition, we have simplified the procedure and expanded the application windows nationwide to reduce the period required until payment from the usual two months to about two weeks.