38 m. Vytautas from Vilnius15min said he registered with the Employment Service after losing his job in April this year, as did many of the unemployed.
As he had enough months of service, he was granted unemployment benefit. However, a few days later, he found himself a job, so he was paid one € 107 for less than a month.
The man worked in a new job for 6 months, after which, as he himself claims, without seeing any prospects in his position, he became unemployed again.
Vytautas decided to apply to the Employment Service again, but this time he found out that he did not have any benefits. The reason given by Sodra’s employees granting benefits is the expiration of the 180-day period when the benefit can be renewed. Vytautas would be entitled to a new unemployment benefit only in 2022. in April.
“If I hadn’t worked, I would have been paid the benefit for as long as 9 months before January 2022, and for working and paying taxes, I am now without income and without unemployment benefits because ‘such a law.’ “The social security system of our state is really great for promoting work and perfectly protecting it,” the man ironized.
It was explained to Vytautas that if he had worked for less than 180 days, he would have resumed payment of benefits after leaving work. Asked if he would have specifically left before knowing such a procedure, he said that such a decision would have been logical.
“It simply came to our notice then. The manager’s proposed salary is the same as the benefit for today. Of course, I wouldn’t have worked, I would have come back and looked for another job. I quickly got a job so that I would not be unemployed, and now I pay for not receiving any benefits, ”said Vytautas.
Sigismund Gedvilas / 15min photo / Benefits
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He estimates that his unemployment benefit would have been more than € 700 each month for the first three months and more than € 220 for the last three months. In this case, however, the lump sum was only € 107.
As a client of the Employment Service, he received two job offers, but they did not match his managerial education, and the salary offered was around € 600.
He states that he understands that neither Sodra nor the Employment Service can change anything on their own, as they follow the procedure laid down in the employment laws.
“It simply came to our notice then. We are talking about unemployment reduction processes. We are declaring one, waving flags and banners, and basically a person who enters the labor market on his own and fails is left without any benefits, ”he said.
Sodra representatives: in this case, the term is six months
Although the Employment Service works directly with jobseekers, Sodra provides benefits.
Malgožata Kozič, Advisor to Sodra Communication Department 15min confirmed that such a procedure actually exists – the resumption of the payment of the terminated unemployment benefit is possible, for example, if the person has been employed or self-employed, but the work or activity was terminated earlier than 6 months.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Sodra
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Unemployment benefit is re-registered upon re-registration with the Employment Service and upon application for this benefit, 12 months after the previous termination of unemployment benefit, if the person has the required 12 months of unemployment insurance in the last 30 months before registration with the Employment Service.
“In order to encourage the unemployed to become more active in the labor market, the renewal of the payment of the terminated unemployment benefit may be applied twice. Until June of this year, the payment of the unemployment benefit, which was terminated, could be resumed only once, ”said M. Kozič.
Unemployment status can also be suspended. Unemployment is suspended, for example, during the period of employment for up to 6 months or when the unemployed person enters into a self-employed activity for up to 6 months, and the unemployment benefit is suspended for that period.
If the status of the unemployed person is renewed after its suspension, the payment of the granted unemployment benefit is also renewed. In this case, the number of renewals of unemployment benefit payment is not limited.
123RF.com nuotr./Eurai
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“Since the reader whose story you have told registered with the Employment Service later than 6 months after the termination of the payment of unemployment benefit, the payment of unemployment benefit cannot be renewed,” M. M. Kozič said.
Unemployment benefit is re-registered upon re-registration with the Employment Service and upon application for this benefit, 12 months after the previous termination of unemployment benefit, if the person has the required 12 months of unemployment insurance in the last 30 months before registration with the Employment Service.
SADM: The requirement encourages you to work longer
Representatives of the Ministry of Social Security and Labor (SADM) say the current provision works preventively to prevent abuse.
The Ministry does not agree with the criticism of the reader Vytautas that such an order encourages not to work. “It encourages people to choose more sustainable jobs and long-term employment relationships. By the way, taking into account the recent growth of wages, individuals are given the opportunity to receive a higher unemployment benefit in the future if they work for a higher salary, ”commented Edita Banienė, Head of the Communication Department of the Ministry of Social Affairs.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Ministry
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According to the representative of the Ministry, if the previous unemployment social insurance benefit were renewed for Vytautas, its payment would be continued for the remaining period according to the previous data on the insured income of the unemployed, without taking into account the last 6 months worked. the period during which he may have received a higher salary.
In the last two weeks, the ministry has been in the spotlight by proposing a new reorganization of the Employment Service. It will aim, among other things, to distinguish between the long-term unemployed who are unable or unwilling to work and those who want to work but do not find suitable opportunities for doing so.
One of the most linguistic aspects of the new regime is that clients of the Employment Service who refuse to be offered “suitable jobs” twice every six months without justifiable reasons will be removed from the list of the unemployed. True, they would continue to be covered by compulsory health insurance, o Employees of the employment service system would explain the obstacles they face individually.
The reform would also address the skills needs of the unemployed by funding a wider range of retraining or skills development programs, such as apprenticeships and university training modules.
Despite the changes in the proposed fiber, such a reorganization would not affect the procedure for payment of benefits relevant to Vytautas.
“It is not planned to change the Law on Unemployment Social Insurance with the reform of the Employment System proposed by the Ministry last week,” E. Banienė commented.
Benefits are paid in three stages over a period of nine months
According to the current procedure in Lithuania, unemployment benefits are paid to the unemployed for nine months. The monthly payment is calculated as the sum of the fixed and variable parts. The current minimum monthly wage (MMA) is 23.27 per cent of the fixed part of the unemployment benefit for which the unemployment benefit is paid. As of January this year, the MMA is € 642, leaving a fixed share of € 149.39 in unemployment benefits
The calculation of the variable part of the unemployment benefit takes into account the insured income of the beneficiary during the 30 months elapsed before the end of the previous calendar month from the date of registration of the unemployed with the Employment Service. “For example, if a person registered with the Employment Service in November of this year, his / her insured income from April 2019 to September 2021 will be assessed,” M. Kozič explains.
The permanent part of the unemployment benefit consists of 23.27 per cent of the minimum monthly wage valid for the month for which the unemployment benefit is paid.
Unemployment benefit is paid for 9 months, but its amount changes every three months. In the first three months, the variable part of the benefit is 38.79%. the average monthly insured income of a person, in the fourth – sixth month – 31.03 per cent, and in the seventh-ninth month – 23.27 per cent. average monthly insured income of a person.
For example, the average insured income of a person who lost his or her job per month was 800 euros. Adding up the fixed and variable parts of the unemployment benefit, the person would receive an unemployment benefit of € 459 for the first three months, € 397 for months 4 to 6 and € 335 for the last three months.
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