Cabinet To Consider Unemployment Insurance Scheme

• A proposal for the implementation of an Unemployment Insurance Scheme will soon be submitted to Cabinet for approval. This scheme aims to protect employed persons against the risk of job loss and facilitates access to partial income during spells of unemployment. 
• The feasibility study on unemployment insurance was undertaken by the International Labour Organisation and the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), with input from several government ministries and stakeholders. 
• Unemployment Insurance would complete Jamaica’s social protection floor, as it is the only missing element as articulated in the Jamaica Social Protection Strategy of 2014. An unemployment scheme can serve as an important macroeconomic stabilisation tool during periods of economic downturn by strengthening Jamaica’s ability to respond to economic shocks, while reducing the risk of poverty among workers and their families in periods of crisis.

(Source: JIS News)