Muireann Duffy
The Government has announced that a new Covid-19 redundancy payment scheme has opened for applications for employees who were made redundant during the pandemic due to public health restrictions.
The Redundancy Payments (Amendment) Act 2022 will allow workers who were laid off due to Covid restrictions between March 13th, 2020 and January 31st, 2022 to apply for the payment, which will be up to €2,268 tax-free.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said the measure will mean those who were made redundant "will not be out of pocket for the period they were laid off".
Describing the scheme as the "best outcome for both employers and employees, Mr Varadkar said: "We want to make sure workers don’t lose out on payments and on the other hand, business owners aren’t faced with a flood of additional redundancy costs, just when they’re trying to get back on their feet."
The payments will be delivered by the Department of Social Protection and will be employer-lead.
"For the majority of eligible employees, their employer, liquidator or relevant officer will apply for this payment on their behalf," Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys said.
The amount each worker receives will depend on the length of time they were laid off for due to Covid before they were made redundant, and the calculation will be based on existing statutory redundancy rules.
The maximum figure of €2,268 relates to workers who eared €600 or more a week and were laid off due to the virus for the entire period between March 13th, 2020 and January 31st, 2022.
Applications for the scheme can be made online via the Welfare Partners website.
