Japanese govt to extend period for employment subsidies
The government and the ruling coalition are planning to extend the period for employment adjustment subsidies, through which companies receive taxpayer money to partially cover allowances for employees taking time off from work, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The subsidies are currently set to expire at the end of September, but the government and the ruling coalition are expected to extend them until the end of this year to protect employment amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which does not seem likely to be contained anytime soon.
The extension of the subsidy period comes after the government has already raised the amount offered. It had increased the maximum daily subsidy from about 8,300 yen to 15,000 yen.
It had also raised the subsidy rate, which had been half for for large companies and two-thirds for small and midsize ones, to a maximum of three-quarters for large companies and a maximum of 100% for small and midsize ones.
In addition, the government had earlier set up a system in which employees, instead of companies, apply for the similar subsidy compensating for taking time off.
The government allocated related expenses in the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2020 and applied these employment measures from April, with the expiration set for the end of September.
However, there has been a sharp increase in the number of people infected nationwide, and corporate activities have been forced to stagnate. The Tokyo metropolitan government asked some categories of restaurants, such as izakaya bars, to shorten their business hours beginning Monday. The central government plans to continue the special measure until the end of this year because the number of people taking time off may remain high if corporate sales decrease. The necessary expenses will be covered by reserve funds from the second supplementary budget.
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