The Tribune

The National Insurance Board (NIB) on Monday launched an online portal where eligible persons can register for the government-funded Unemployment Benefit Extension Programme (GovUEBex).

Persons temporarily laid-off due to the COVID-19 shutdown between March 23 and June 30, and who continue to be unemployed, are eligible for the extension programme if they fall under one of four categories:

They must have exhausted their 13 weeks of NIB unemployment benefit payments either as a result of COVID 19 or Hurricane Dorian-related termination.

Persons can also qualify if they were employed full-time for at least 3 months before the COVID-19 shutdown, and were under the age of 35 but did not meet the required number of contributions to claim NIB’s unemployment benefit.

Self-employed individuals in the tourism sector, who were previously enrolled in the government-funded Unemployment Assistance (UEA) programme, are also eligible for the $48m in extra support that the government is making available.

All eligible persons must register on the portal to receive financial assistance. They will receive $150 per week for a maximum of 13 weeks during periods of unemployment once the claim has been approved.

NIB said it has assessed the records of thousands of contributors and self-employed persons, and will pre-enroll individuals that meet the eligibility requirements for the extension programme. The new portal pulls information from the NIB database to simplify the process of registration.

All eligible persons must register on the portal to verify their information and enrollment status to receive payments under the extension initiative. They will also receive an e-mail notification after registering.

After signing into the portal, individuals will see a notice indicating whether they meet the requirement for enrollment or not. Benefits payments will begin tomorrow and will continue every two weeks for a period up to 13 weeks.

Prior to receiving payments, registrants must declare their current employment status on the portal during every payout period. This verification is to be done a minimum of three days before the next payment is due. If a person does not verify within the required timeframe, they will not receive their benefits.

Persons working part time, meaning less than 40 hours per week, who would normally be a full-time worker, are eligible to receive $30 per day for each day they did not work during the week. NIB said it will check with employers to confirm the worker’s status and verify whether they are still fully or partially unemployed to prevent benefits fraud.

Payments will be made to persons via their employer, direct into the bank account or via the payment provider, Island Pay’s, digital wallet.

NIB urged claimants who applied for the ordinary NIB unemployment benefit during the COVID-19 period from March 23 to June 30, 2020, but have not received payments to send an e-mail to UEBresolution@nib-bahamas.com for an agent to address your claim.