630,000 people covered by unemployment insurance — SSC

AMMAN — The Social Security Corporation (SSC) on Saturday urged subscribers covered by unemployment insurance to apply for disbursement of unemployment allowances in case their services were ended for any reason at their workplaces. 

The SSC specified that the insurance will only be available to unemployed people who have not yet found jobs at other places, as this type of insurance only provides temporary income to help the insured manage their livelihoods until they find a work opportunity. 

SSC Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi told The Jordan Times on Saturday that the number of those covered by unemployment insurance has reached 630,000, noting that the insurance does not cover employees of government departments and public institutions, members of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army and other security bodies or the optional subscribers to the SSC.

Disbursement of unemployment allowances limits demand on early retirement, Sbeihi said in an SSC statement sent to The Jordan Times.

He stated that being able to spend while unemployed might motivate people to continue working by taking on another job to increase their subscription period and obtain a better pension.

Unemployment insurance in the Kingdom started in September of 2011, Sbeihi said, noting that more than 90,000 subscribers have benefitted from it so far, reimbursed with over JD77 million during their unemployment periods.

If the insured have been subscribed to the SCC for at least 36 months and are included in unemployment insurance in the last month before they left their most recent jobs, they will be able to benefit from unemployment insurance, the SCC spokesperson said.

He added that a certain percentage of the salaries are given to the insured during each month of unemployment, depending on their latest salary and subscription duration.

In the first month of unemployment, the insured receive 75 per cent of their latest salaries, with a cap of JD555. For example, if the latest salary for a given subscriber was JD1,000 he would only receive JD555 in the first month of unemployment, and a decreasing percentage each month, according to Sbeihi.

The insured can benefit from unemployment insurance three times during their subscription to the social security period, each time lasting a total of six months of unemployment.

As long as the insured benefit from the unemployment insurance, they are still considered to be under the umbrella of the SSC and are not cut off from their subscription, Sbeihi said.

"In 2018 alone, 20,000 subscribers covered by unemployment insurance benefitted from the fund, with a total of JD24 million provided," Sbeihi said in early August.

"Of course, those who do not need to use unemployment insurance at all or use only a little, and then retire and are not under the SCC law whatsoever — they will receive the total credit in their accounts as well as the investment revenues on that amount," Sbeihi said at the time.

He added that 1.5 per cent of an insured person's salary goes to an unemployment insurance subscription: 1 per cent from the employee and 0.5 per cent from the business owner.