The 752 new applications for welfare assistance received by the Agency for Social Protection (ASP) between March 1 to March 8 is putting enormous pressure on the agency’s resources, despite an increase of R30 million under the amended 2020 budget, says chief executive Marcus Simeon.
Parents with children under 15 and other class of workers who need to apply for Special Leave can now do so at the newly opened office set up by the Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status to ease the process.
The Agency for Social Protection has over the past eight days received a total of 752 applications for welfare assistance, which constitutes over half the applications the agency received over the course of last year.
In order to allow efficient contact tracing and to break the chain of transmission of COVID-19 in Seychelles, public health commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon, has ordered that for a period of twenty-one (21) days starting from midnight April 9, 2020 and up to midnight of April 29, 2020, all persons in Seychelles are hereby restricted from outdoor movement, except for employees of essential services who will be required to go to work.
The list of essential services is as follows:
The employment department’s new office that will address any queries by members of the public in relation to the new COVID-19 Special Leave Regulations, introduced on March 30, 2020, has opened its doors.
New priorities in a new reality’
Mr. Speaker,
Leader of the Opposition,
Leader of Government Business,
Honourable Members,
People of Seychelles,
In the face of challenges being encountered by the world of work with the situation of the coronavirus pandemic, the Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status, Myriam Telemaque, yesterday signed a law introducing a new category of leave for workers working in both the public and private sector. The Employment (Coronavirus Special Leave) (Temporary Measures) Regulations, 2020, that is already in force, allows workers to take special leave of absence from work in certain specific situations, such as to take care of their social responsibilities.
Workers with children under the age of 15 and who attend relevant educational institutions which have since March 16 closed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, can now apply for special leave under the Employment (Coronavirus Special Leave) (Temporary Measures) Regulations, 2020 .
