By YOURI KEMP
The National Insurance Board (NIB) yesterday said it had received 676 unemployment benefit claims from persons displaced by Hurricane Dorian over the three weeks to this Wednesday.
“Some 676 unemployment benefit claims were submitted by displaced claimants from Abaco and Grand Bahama for the period September 2 to September 24, 2019, as a result of persons who were made unemployed by Hurricane Dorian,” NIB said in a statement to Tribune Business yesterday.
The national security system added that the exact dollar value these claims represent, and the likely unemployment benefit payout it will have to make compared to last year’s figures, have not been calculated yet.
Abaco and Grand Bahama had total labour forces of 14,620 and 32,825, respectively, based on the Department of Statistics’ Labour Force Survey, so the claimants’ number cited by NIB is likely to rise even though some of those displaced by Dorian will likely have found work on other islands or in the US.
And major employers in Freeport, such as Kelly’s (Freeport) and the Bahamian Brewery and Beverage Company, some of whom were marginally less affected by Dorian, have already reopened or pledged to retain their existing workforces. This will help to contain post-Dorian unemployment.
Meanwhile, NIB said it will accept a listing of unemployed staff from Grand Bahama and Abaco businesses that have either closed or laid off staff rather than mandate that the Employers Lay-Off Certificate (Form B80) be issued.
This is intended to help expedite the processing of unemployment benefit claims. Employers providing employee lists are to include the full name of the employee; their National Insurance Board number; and employment start and end dates/
Dates of birth are also being sought for each employee if available. Where NIB numbers are not readily available, employers are being asked to provide full legal names of their staff.
Employers have been asked to e-mail their lists to nibcares@nib-bahamas.com. Employers who have lost all employee records are to contact its Compliance Department at 502-1625 or 502-1653, or by email to compliance@nib-bahamas.com for further assistance.
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