ISSA webinar highlights the need for unemployment insurance in the Caribbean region
Keynote speaker, Ariel Pino, ILO Specialist, Social Protection and OSH, examined the key aspects of unemployment insurance – namely the why, the what and the how - vis-à-vis international experience and the International Labour Standards.
23 May 2022
Unemployment insurance has been in the political agenda of social reforms in the Caribbean due to the overwhelming effects in the labour market created by the COVID-19 pandemic according to Ariel Pino, Specialist, Social Protection and Occupational Safety and Health, ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean and keynote speaker at the ISSA Webinar: Unemployment insurance in the CARICOM region held on 23 May 2022.
In his keynote address, Mr Pino (in photo) examined key aspects of unemployment insurance – namely the why, the what and the how - vis-à-vis international experience and the International Labour Standards. He noted that: “the ILO is working towards implementing universal, adequately sustainable, shock responsive social protection systems that include unemployment insurance and that have a key component which is the social protection floor”. He also emphasized that “social protection is a human right - we tend to minimize and relate social protection to the poor and the venerable, and if there is something that we learned in the COVID-19 pandemic is that everyone needs social protection, not just the poor and vulnerable”.
Globally only 19 per cent of persons receive legal coverage in case of unemployment through unemployment insurance. When it comes to effective coverage it is a bit less especially for the countries of the Americas. It should be noted that only two Caribbean countries - Barbados and The Bahamas - currently have unemployment insurance. Additionally, the temporary unemployment schemes implemented in the other Caribbean nations have provided the majority of the support to those affected by the pandemic.
The webinar, organized by the International Social Security Association (ISSA), was aimed at providing multi-stakeholder engagement through the sharing of valuable experiences, lessons learnt and good practices from other jurisdictions on unemployment insurance. It also shared key takeaways to institutions currently participating in the establishment and implementation of unemployment insurance.
The discussants included: Mr. George Cremona, Director of Income Support and Investigations, Ministry for Social Policy and Children's Rights (MSPCR), Malta, Mr. Pierre Biren, Deputy Director of Finance, Employment Agency (ADEM), Luxembourg, Ms. Tami Francis, Deputy Director, Core Operations & Actuarial Services, The National Insurance Board, The Bahamas, Ms. Sue Ann Charlery-Payne, Group Financial Controller, Finance Department, National Insurance Corporation, Saint Lucia and Ms. Deidra Coy, Director, Human & Community Development Unit, Social Policy Planning & Research Division, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Jamaica. The session was moderated by Mariano Brener, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, ISSA.
In his keynote address, Mr Pino (in photo) examined key aspects of unemployment insurance – namely the why, the what and the how - vis-à-vis international experience and the International Labour Standards. He noted that: “the ILO is working towards implementing universal, adequately sustainable, shock responsive social protection systems that include unemployment insurance and that have a key component which is the social protection floor”. He also emphasized that “social protection is a human right - we tend to minimize and relate social protection to the poor and the venerable, and if there is something that we learned in the COVID-19 pandemic is that everyone needs social protection, not just the poor and vulnerable”.
Globally only 19 per cent of persons receive legal coverage in case of unemployment through unemployment insurance. When it comes to effective coverage it is a bit less especially for the countries of the Americas. It should be noted that only two Caribbean countries - Barbados and The Bahamas - currently have unemployment insurance. Additionally, the temporary unemployment schemes implemented in the other Caribbean nations have provided the majority of the support to those affected by the pandemic.
The webinar, organized by the International Social Security Association (ISSA), was aimed at providing multi-stakeholder engagement through the sharing of valuable experiences, lessons learnt and good practices from other jurisdictions on unemployment insurance. It also shared key takeaways to institutions currently participating in the establishment and implementation of unemployment insurance.
The discussants included: Mr. George Cremona, Director of Income Support and Investigations, Ministry for Social Policy and Children's Rights (MSPCR), Malta, Mr. Pierre Biren, Deputy Director of Finance, Employment Agency (ADEM), Luxembourg, Ms. Tami Francis, Deputy Director, Core Operations & Actuarial Services, The National Insurance Board, The Bahamas, Ms. Sue Ann Charlery-Payne, Group Financial Controller, Finance Department, National Insurance Corporation, Saint Lucia and Ms. Deidra Coy, Director, Human & Community Development Unit, Social Policy Planning & Research Division, Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), Jamaica. The session was moderated by Mariano Brener, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, ISSA.
Key takeaways:
- Unemployment insurance is much more that cash benefits; it is also protecting jobs and supporting the reintegration into the labour market.
- When designing the operational linkages with active labour market policies don't commit to something that cannot enforce. Because that is a recipe for failure.
- At the very beginning allow for some flexibility in the implementation, particularly in the context in the framework of the labour markets that we have in the Caribbean.
- Finally, I think the communication and the way that you launch the unemployment insurance is key.
Ariel Pino, ILO
The digital systems that we can all afford nowadays will be crucial for the instant payment of unemployment benefit and other benefits like social assistance. George Cremona, MSPCR
Quite broadly, especially in the prerequisites, there will be a need to tighten the conditions to get the unemployment benefits and the duration of these benefits, which can be reduced and the amount can be capped. Depending on the maturity of the system you should register everything in this database to allowing for cross checking of payments. Pierre Biren, ADEM
In The Bahamas we had individuals paying contributions into the Social Security Fund (e.g., the self-employed). However, when the pandemic came about, they were not covered. Therefore, I think that this is something that those schemes that are now coming onstream could look at, i.e., representation of persons who would have been on a work permit in the country, foreign nationals etc. Tami Francis, Core Operations & Actuarial Services, NIB, The Bahamas
If there's anything the COVID-19 pandemic taught us in Saint Lucia is the need for unemployment insurance. We implemented a short-term one and then we fast tracked into the development of a permanent scheme with the support of the ILO. It also thought us the value of contributing to the fund. Sue Ann Charlery-Payne, National Insurance Corporation, Saint Lucia
The pandemic has taught us that this will be critical, not just in normal times but also in times of crisis should another occur. We also need to remain practical and to be able to enforce whatever measures and obligations that we put in place; and to put the necessary resources in place to administer unemployment insurance. Deidra Coy, PIOJ