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Al Razzaz: By all standards and measures, the two initiatives are in the service of the public at the social and the economic levels
AMMAN—Ministries of labour and Agriculture and the Social Security Department (SSC) announced the start of receiving applications for benefiting from an initiative to support the recruitment of Jordanians and another to encourage the employment of Jordanians in the agricultural sector.
In a joint press conference, Minister of Labour Ghazi Shbeikat, Minister of Agriculture Saeed Masri and SSC Director General Omar Razzaz announced the start of the two initiatives, launched by His Majesty King Abdullah on the past Labour Day with a view to encourage recruitment of Jordanians.
Under the two programmes, the government will pay part of contributions to the SSC for the first 20,000 jobless Jordanians who get recruited under the initiatives. Eligible beneficiaries of the first initiative are holders of degrees less than higher school.
Under the second initiative, the government pays contributions of Jordanians workers in the agricultural sector to the SSC permanently.
Minister of Labour Ghazi Shbeikat said the overall cost of the two initiatives stands at JD38 million, adding that the first initiative will benefit a maximum of 20,000 jobless Jordanians.
Under the first initiative, the government will pay the full monthly contribution to the SSC of workers whose salaries do not exceed JD200 and it will pay 50 per cent of employers' contribution to the SSC for a period of two months.
Under the second initiative, the government will pay the full contribution of Jordanian workers in the agricultural sector on the basis of the minimum wage and will shoulder part of employer's contribution to the SSC.
Supporting Recruitment of Jordanians Initiative:
Shbeikat said the initiative seeks to increase the number of working Jordanians and alleviate unemployment, especially in light of the economic conditions Jordan is going through along with other countries in light of the global financial crisis, adding that the initiative is meant to reduce the negative impact of the crisis.
He added that companies will be supported to employ Jordanians through the two initiatives as the government will pay employees' contributions to the SSC and shoulder part of employers' contributions to the SSC.
Shbeikat added that eligibility procedures were simplified to attract the largest number of Jordanians willing to benefit from the initiatives.
Those eligible to apply for the two initiatives are Jordanians aged between 18-50 years old for male and those aged 18-45 for women. Beneficiaries must be holders of degrees less than the high school and that they are not governed by the articles of the Social Security Law through another institution. They also should not be governed by the civilian or military retirement law.
Beneficiaries are those jobless Jordanians who are not contributors to the SSC. But those who were registered in the SSC and stopped paying contributions for a period of one year since they left work are eligible to apply for the initiative.
In case an employer terminates the job of a worker, hired under the initiative, the worker will stop receiving benefits under the initiative. Eligible Jordanians can benefit once from the initiative during its implementation.
The initiative seeks to encourage jobless Jordanians to work and to provide social protection for those jobless. It also seeks to encourage employers in the private sector to hire unemployed Jordanians.
Supporting workers in agricultural sector initiative:
For his part, Minister of Agriculture Saeed Masri stressed the importance of the Royal initiative for workers in the agricultural sector, saying it comes at a time when the agricultural sector in the Kingdom is still not institutionalized.
The minister added that the initiative to recruit Jordanians in the agricultural sector is in line with programmes that the year 2009 is the year of agriculture, adding that the initiative is designed to provide jobs in the agricultural sector and increase the number of workers in the sector.
Masri pointed out that the initiative provides social protection and safety to new segments of the society through encouraging their employment and coverage under the social security umbrella. Thus, workers will enjoy from the benefits provided by the SSC in receiving pension salaries in the future.
The minister added that the initiative aims to encourage Jordanians to work in the agricultural sector and to provide social protection to workers in this sector. In addition, it seeks to encourage employers in the agricultural sector to hire Jordanians.
Masri said the targeted groups under the initiative are Jordanians working permanently in institutions in the agricultural sector that are covered by the social security law.
The second group is the Jordanians working in institutions in the agricultural sector that are not covered by the social security law.
For the first segment, the government shoulders the full contribution percentage to the SSC that stands at 16.5 per cent during the first two years, however during the third, the fourth and the fifth year the government shoulders 11 per cent of the contributions and employers shoulder the rest 5 per cent. During the five years period, workers do not pay any contributions themselves.
For the second segment, the government shoulders 14.5 per cent of the contribution during the first two years and during the third, fourth and fifth year the government pays 10 per cent of the contributions and workers pay only 4.5 per cent.
Those eligible to benefit from the initiative are male Jordanians between 18-50 years old and women Jordanians aged between 18-45 years old who work only in the agricultural sector.
The initiative excludes those covered by the civilian or military retirement law and those covered obligatorily by the social security law.
Conditions entails that the owner of an agricultural land receives a document from the Ministry of Agriculture that clarifies the type and size of agricultural lands and to receive another document from the Labour Ministry clarifying the number of workers allowed to be covered optionally with the insurance for each plot of land.
Workers benefit only one time from the initiative during its implementation and if a worker leaves the job or his/her job is terminated the worker does not have the right to apply for the initiative anew.
Exceptions to that are cases of death of workers or in case the worker is covered by the social security law if he joins another facility that is covered by the law while nature of his work is not covered by the initiative.
Social protection:
At the meeting, SSC Director General Omar Al Razzaz said by all means and standards the two initiatives serve the public at the economic and social levels, adding they support those who are really in need of actual support. The two initiatives provide individuals with social protection.
Encouraging employment of Jordanians through the initiatives will help increase the number o those covered by the SSC, said Al Razzaz.
He expected a high turnover on the initiatives by jobless Jordanians as they provide them with an incentive to join the social security umbrella.
In the same context, Director of Recruitment Department at the Labour Ministry Mohammad Qudah said the implementation of the initiatives will start by announcement in several media outlets and through direct contact with the targeted groups.
Laborers will be covered through their institutions that are ruled by the social security law, but if the institution is not covered by the law and that owner of the firm decides to cover it voluntarily, then it will be treated as same as the one that is covered obligatory by the law.
An electronic system will be set up at the Labour Ministry through which names of the jobless at the labour departments will be registered. Workers should only register through the Labour Ministry and employers are not allowed to put a sign that the jobless person worked for them as that will be the task of the SSC or the ministry.
Employers willing to benefit from the Royal initiative can receive lists of names of jobless Jordanians through the website of the Labour Ministry or by visiting any of the labour offices across the Kingdom.
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