On June 15th the Provincial Government announced details surrounding the administration of the Essential Worker Support Program previously announced on April 15th by the Federal Government. This program is designed to support low income essential workers with a one-time payment to individuals who meet eligibility criteria and who work in professions included in the Government of Canadas document Guidance on Essential Services and Functions in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Administration of the program delivery will be through the Provincial Governments Department of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour. The criteria for qualification for the one-time payment include meeting the definition of an essential worker and income and hours worked thresholds. The eligibility period announced for this program runs from March 15th to July 4th. The Newfoundland and Labrador Essential Worker Program provides a temporary wage top-up to essential workers employed during Alert levels 4 and 5 that have a maximum gross monthly income of $3,000 and have not received the CERB during the related time period.
The top-up is calculated based on hours worked and pays a maximum benefit of $1,500. Employers will receive 10% of the employee benefit to cover Mandatory Employer Related Costs (MERC) such as employer portion of CPP and EI.
Employers must apply for the benefit on behalf of their employees. If you are unsure as to if your employees qualify for this program, a listing of essential workers is provided on the federal and provincial websites noted below.
The application process opens on July 6th through the provincial government online application process in LaMPSS. The deadline to apply for EWSP is July 30th.
More information on this program is available at the following links:
Link to guide of essential workers is found here: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/crtcl-nfrstrctr/esf-sfe-en.aspx)
Program details and application information is found here: https://www.gov.nl.ca/aesl/essential-workers-program/
Announcement: https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2020/exec/0615n04/
On April 29th the provincial government announced a subsidy for private sector employers, including those self-employed. Employers will be reimbursed for continuation of employees pay associated with the time they were off work due to the requirement to self-isolate following their return from out-of-the province due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.
The maximum amount of provincial funding is $500 per week of a combined maximum of $1,000 per week for employees receiving both federal and provincial funding.
More information on this subsidy can be found here: https://www.gov.nl.ca/releases/2020/exec/0429n03/
Please note that a number of the Provincial Government filing deadline extensions announced during COVID-19 are due June 23, 2020.
A complete listing of all Government of Newfoundland extension announced can be found here https://www.gov.nl.ca/covid-19/business-supports/
As our province prepares to move to Alert Level 2 on June 25th, many of our staff will return to our offices to continue to provide exemplary service to our clients, however we have decided that our offices will remain closed to public access. The drop off and receiving area that we have established on the ground floor of our building will remain available for those clients unable to utilize pdf technology to provide your documents to us in electronic format via our secure portal or via email.
Signage is provided at our main entrance to direct you to the drop off location which shall be open from 8:30 to 5:00 Monday to Friday.
We continue to provide services to our clients utilizing our secure remote access. We are committed, as always, to fully serving your needs and to meet existing deadlines and delivering prompt responses to questions and concerns.