Number 5229 Saturday, March 28, 2020 475

 

LAW REGARDING THE EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TAKEN BY THE MINISTRY OF LABOR, WELFARE AND SOCIAL INSURANCE FOR TREATMENT OF THE PANDEMIA OF THE VIRUS COVID 19 LAW 27 (I) OF 2020

 

Decision under Articles 6 and 12

 

The Minister of Labor, Welfare and Social Security, exercising the powers conferred by Article 6 and Article 12 of the Extraordinary Measures Taken by the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance for the Treatment of the COVID Virus 19 Law 27 (I) of 2020 hereby issues the following Regulations:

 

1. This Decision will be referred to as the 2020 Special Childcare Leave Decision (No. 1).

 

2. In the context of the Emergency Measures Taken to Cope with the COVID 19 Pandemic Act 2020 and to support workers responsible for the care of children up to 15 years of age and / or children with disabilities of any age, the allowance for "Special Childcare Leave" in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in this Decision.

 

3. The Special Childcare Leave Allowance shall be granted to working parents who are responsible for the care of children up to 15 years of age and / or children with disabilities of any age and due to the nature of their work they cannot work either by telework or by work from home or by a flexible working schedule provided there is no child assistance at home.

 

4. Terms and conditions and method of calculation for Children’s’ Special Care Allowance:

 

(a)         The Special Childcare Leave allowance is payable only upon submission of the relevant electronic application EAA Form.1 found on the following link https://www.coronavirus.mlsi.gov.cy/eidiki-adeia (Ministry's website).

 

(b)         The Special Childcare Allowance is payable only upon submission of the online form EEA 6 by the applicant by supplying their BANK ACCOUNT DETAILS" where they wish the funds to be transferred.

 

(c)          The application is made by an employee who is insured with the Social Security Fund in January 2020.

 

(d)         The application shall be made by a parent who is a parent responsible for the care of children up to 15 years of age and / or children with disabilities of any age.

 

(e)         The Child Special Care Leave Allowance is granted only to employed working parents who have a gross final monthly salary of up to EUR 2500.

 

(f)          The Child Special Care Leave Allowance is calculated as follows on the basis of January 2020 salary or in case there is no record of a last salary in 2020, then it will be based on the last salary for which there is data within the last 9 months in the registrar of Social Security Services:

 

i.            For the first € 1,000 of the monthly salary, the beneficiary will receive a 60% allowance for that part of the salary and for the salary part from € 1,000 to € 2,000 the beneficiary will receive a 40% allowance. The maximum amount of allowance for a period of one month may not exceed € 1,000.

 

ii.           For single-parent families the above rates are increases to 70% and 50% respectively and the maximum allowance for a one-month period may not exceed € 1,200. For the purposes of applying this Decision, 'single parent' means a family by which a parent without a spouse lives with at least one dependent child, acquired either by marriage or out of marriage and who lives solely on account of being a single parent, widow, divorced, or because one of the two parents has abandoned the child/children (officially denounced by court) or family in which a married parent lives alone with at least one dependent child because the other parent carries a prison sentence of six (6) months or more.

 

iii.          Cases of single-parent families whose last monthly wage exceeds € 2,500, will be considered on the basis of the particular circumstances of each case.

 

(g)          The period of granting the Special Child Care Leave may not exceed 4 weeks in total for both parents and the calculation method referred to in paragraph (f) shall be calculated in proportion to the days for which the applicant is entitled to the benefits.

 

(h)         If one parent receives the Special Childcare Permit, the other cannot receive it for the same period.

 

(i)           The period of entitlement to a Special Childcare Allowance may start from 16/03/2020.

 

(j)           If one parent works and the other does not (either because he or she receives an unemployment benefit or a special unemployment benefit or sickness benefit or because he is unemployed or for other similar reasons), the working parent is not entitled to Special Childcare Leave for that period, unless the non-working parent has himself or herself been infected with COVID 19 or is hospitalized or is a person with a disability or is in compulsory isolation.

 

(k)          Special Childcare Leave will only be granted if the nature of the parent's work does not allow teleworking or working from home or flexible working hours and if there is no home assistance (grandparents are not considered home assistance for the purposes of this Decision).

 

(l)           The granting of Special Childcare Benefit allowance requires the consent of the employer and the relevant information can be verified directly with each employer.

 

(m)        For the parents of persons with disabilities, the Special Childcare Leave is granted if no other care allowance is granted for such persons by the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Security.

 

(n)         The Special Childcare Leave Allowance shall not be granted for a period for which the applicant receives an unemployment benefit, a specific unemployment benefit, or sickness benefit.

 

(o)         The Special Childcare Leave Allowance will be granted only after the applicant declares the following:

 

i.            He/she will be responsible for making sure that the information entered is true and that the consequences of a false declaration will be accepted, which may include a fine of up to € 40,000 or imprisonment for up to 2 years, or both in the event of a conviction for false reporting.

ii.           ii. The Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Security will be empowered to verify in cooperation with other competent authorities of the Republic or abroad and with the Organizations / Bodies / Businesses that the information contained in the application is deemed necessary for the examination of the application and the provision of the allowance.

iii.          Explicit consent will be given to the processing of personal data for the purposes of applying this Decision, in accordance with the provisions of Chapter III of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data.

 

5. For the period for which the childcare allowance is to be paid, the employer shall be exempt from the obligation to pay the salary to his employees who received that childcare allowance.

 

6. The period of the Special Childcare Leave shall be considered as a period of equivalent insurance for the purpose of contributions to the Social Security Fund and shall be credited to the beneficiary's insurance account accordingly.

 

7. Beneficiaries of a Minimum Guaranteed Income who are working and are parents can also benefit from the Special Childcare Allowance. The Special Childcare Leave allowance to be paid to Beneficiaries of a Minimum Guaranteed Income, will be taken into account for purposes of calculating the income considered for the purpose of paying the Minimum Guaranteed Income for the period of payment.

 

This Decision shall enter into force on 16 March 2020. (Drafted on March 28, 2020.)

 

GEORGIA AIMILIANIDOU, Minister for Labor, Welfare and Social Insurance

 

Translation by Stelios Hambis (www.SalesorRentals.com & www.PlusVillaRentals.com ).

DISCLAIMER: The English version is a translation of the original in Greek for information purposes only. In case of a discrepancy, the Greek original will prevail https://www.coronavirus.mlsi.gov.cy/eidiki-adeia .