Hurricane Irma Unemployment Assistance Press Release

The Government of Anguilla and the Social Security Board are collaborating to provide assistance to persons whose employment has been affected by the passage of Hurricane Irma. Being cognizant that many persons suffered loss or damage during the hurricane and that this was compounded by the impact on their places of employment, both entities have teamed up to offer support. The assistance will be available to persons who have been diligently contributing to the Social Security scheme for some time, but who now find themselves unemployed or underemployed (i.e. earning less than EC$800 a month).

In order to qualify for assistance, persons must meet the following criteria. They must be:

• unemployed or underemployed (i.e. earning less than EC$800 a month) as a result of Hurricane Irma;
• Social Security contributors who have made at least 50 weeks of contributions to the social security scheme before the passage of Hurricane Irma
• Unemployed or underemployed for at least 20 days (excluding Sundays and public holidays) before making a claim for assistance.

The assistance will take the form of two payments as follow:

• For unemployed persons there will be an initial payment of EC$1,500 and six weeks thereafter, if the persons are still unemployed, a further payment of EC$1,500.
• For underemployed persons (i.e. persons who now earn less than EC$800 a month as a result of Hurricane Irma), there will be an initial payment equal to the difference between EC$1,500 and one month’s salary (EC$1,500 minus salary for 1 month); and six weeks thereafter, if the persons are still underemployed, a further payment calculated in the same way.

In order to provide the assistance, legislative changes will be necessary and these are currently being worked on with the aim of bringing the scheme into effect on 1st December 2017. Claim forms will be available at the Department of Labour and the Social Security Office and must be submitted to the Labour Department for processing. Persons who are eligible for the assistance are encouraged to complete and submit the claim forms when they become available and to visit the Labour Department for more information. Where necessary, assistance will be provided to complete the forms.

While this is a temporary measure to provide assistance in this time of greatest need, the Government of Anguilla and the Social Security Board will continue to work together in the short to medium term to establish an unemployment benefit scheme which will be available on an ongoing basis to assist social security contributors who are out of work.

21st November 2017