New Wage Subsidy Scheme Announced

The government has announced that the Wage Supplement Scheme will be revised for the third time since its introduction back in March 2019. With effect from this month, the supplement will be based on the business losses of eligible businesses and subsidies will be ranked accordingly.

Assistance will be calculated on the basis of VAT returns compared to the same period in 2019. The revised Scheme will now also cater for worker substitution and the subsidy will continue to be paid in cases where employees have changed, provided that the total number of workers in the company concerned does not exceed the May 2019 headcount.

Businesses which experienced losses of less than 9% will no longer be eligible for the scheme.

The subsidy for other businesses will be as follows:

• Drop in sales between 45 per cent and 54 per cent – €640 per worker per month.
• Drop between 35 and 44 per cent – €480 per worker per month;
• Drop between 25-34 per cent – €320 per worker per month;
• Drop between 10-24 per cent – €160 per worker per month.

 

Further details will be announced in the coming days.