Several amendments have been published in the Official Gazette “ON CERTAIN AMENDMENTS AND ADDITIONS TO DECISION NO. 254, DATED 3/27/2020, OF THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, “FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE PROCEDURES, DOCUMENTATION, AND AMOUNT OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR EMPLOYEES IN BUSINESS ENTITIES WITH ANNUAL REVENUE UP TO 14 MILLION LEK, ECONOMIC SUPPORT AND PAYMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS DURING THE PERIOD OF THE NATURAL DISASTER, DECLARED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF COVID-19.”.
First, the total fund increases by 10%, from 5.8 billion lek to 6.4 billion lek.
The application for financial assistance is made by the self-employed/employed individual. Individuals who are on more than one payroll, when both activities are closed as a result of the restrictive measures, receive as financial assistance only one minimum wage. In the event that only one of the activities is deemed eligible, the individual who is on more than one payroll does not receive the minimum wage financial assistance.
Beneficiaries of financial assistance are self-employed individuals or those employed by entities with annual revenues of up to 14,000,000 (fourteen million) lek, as categorized below:
- a) Self-employed natural persons;
- b) Unpaid family employees of the natural person trader;
- c) Employees of individual traders;
c) Employees of legal entities.
Self-employed or employed individuals who earned gross wage income exceeding 2,000,000 (two million) lek in 2019 are not eligible for financial assistance.”
Source: Monitor.