The government has rolled out another subsidy program — between P5,000 to P8,000 (based on the region) — per month per eligible employee. The Department of Finance (DOF) recently announced Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program. The SBWS measure will be rolled out through the Social Security System (SSS), which will only be accepting applications from 16 April 2020 to 30 April 2020 [Note: Extended by the DOF to 8 May 2020, in the light of the extension of the ECQ to May 15. Important Update: Refund of SBWS benefits; See also Grievance Procedure for those eligible but not covered, and Non-Duplication of SBWS, CAMP and SAP.]
Applications will be completed by the employer on behalf of their employees.
First tranche of payout is from 1-15 May 2020. Second tranche of payout is from 16-31 May 2020. The schedule may change depending on the timing of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
The SBWS is separate from the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) implemented by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). However, employees who have received a subsidy under the CAMP shall be eligible for only the first month of the SBWS to avoid duplication.
I. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
The business must meet two eligibility criteria: size of business and impact of the ECQ on the small business’ operations. The small business must meet both criteria.
- i. Size of business: The small business — whether a corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship — must not be in the Bureau of Internal Revenue’s (BIR) Large Taxpayer Service (LTS) list.
- ii. Impact of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ): Small businesses under both Category A (non-essentials) that are forced to stop operations (i.e., temporary closure or suspension of work) and Category B (quasi-essentials) that are allowed to operate a skeleton force can apply for the wage subsidy for employees who are not able to work and did not get paid during the ECQ.
Employers in areas where other forms of quarantine have been put in place by the LGU may also qualify.
Category A: Non-essentials
- Non-food raw materials/ Non-essential manufacturing
- Tobacco
- Construction
- Airlines
- Non-essential services
- Hotels and restaurants
- Rental and leasing of personal goods
- Entertainment
Category B: Quasi-essentials
- Textiles, wearables, and leather for export
- Electronics manufacturing
- Retail trade
- Public transportation / trucking and cargo handling (food and non-food)
- Business process outsourcing
- Banks
- Personal service and domestic activities (salons, laundry, funeral, domestic help, others)
Priority. Businesses that have been compliant with the regulations of the BIR and SSS will be prioritized.
- 1. BIR-registered and complying with tax obligations during the past three years, up to January 2020.
- 2. SSS-registered and have paid SSS contributions for the past three years up to January 2020 (the last recorded contribution).
II. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR EMPLOYEES
An employee who fulfills ALL of the following criteria is eligible:
- Must be an employee of the eligible small business.
- Must be employed and active as of 1 March 2020 but unable to work due to the ECQ.
- Did not get paid by their employer for at least two weeks during the temporary closure or suspension of work in accordance with Labor Advisory No. 1, series of 2020.
- Can be of any contract status (e.g., regular, probationary, regular seasonal, project-based, fixed-term).
- Must be certified by the employer in the application as having met all the above criteria.
Priority. Priority will be given to employees that are BIR and SSS-registered and compliant with SSS and BIR regulations.
Disqualifications. The following employees are not eligible:
- Working from home or part of the skeleton force.
- On leave for the entire duration of the ECQ, whether with or without pay.
- Already a recipient of SSS unemployment benefits, to avoid duplication.
- Those who have settled or in-process SSS final claims (funeral, retirement, death, and total disability)
III. CONDITIONS TO AVAIL OF THE PROGRAM
To qualify for the program, the following conditions must be fulfilled:
- 1. Small businesses must maintain the employment status of all eligible employee beneficiaries before the ECQ and throughout the SBWS period. This will be checked during the monitoring and evaluation stage. Non-compliance with this condition shall result in the employer refunding to the government the wage subsidy amount.
- 2. Employees cannot resign during the ECQ period.
IV. SALARY SUBSIDY AMOUNT
All eligible employees of eligible small businesses shall be given a wage subsidy of P5,000 to P8,000 per month (depending on their region of work) for up to two months, depending on the extent of the ECQ.
- NCR – P8,0000 monthly wage subsidy per worker
- CAR – P5,500
- Region 1 – P5,500
- Region 2 – P5,500
- Region 3 – P8,000
- Region 4A – P8,000
- Region 4B – P5,000
- Region 5 – P5,000
- Region 6 – P6,000
- Region 7 – P6,000
- Region 8 – P5,000
- Region 9 – P5,000
- Region 10 – P6,000
- Region 11 – P6,000
- Region 12 – P5,000
- CARAGA – P5,000
- ARMM – P5,000
V. MODES OF PAYMENT
- 1. Withdrawal via employee’s SSS UMID cards enrolled as ATM.
- 2. Withdrawal from employee’s bank account for PESOnet participating banks.
- 3. Employee’s Union Bank Quick Card (partnership with SSS).
- 4. Employee’s E-wallet: PayMaya
- 5. Cash pick-up arrangements through remittance transfer companies.
VI. INQUIRIES ON PRE-QUALIFICATIONS
Send an email to BIR at SBWS_BIRquery@bir.gov.ph with the following information:
TIN
Registered Name or Business Name
Revenue District Office (RDO) where registered
Your message
For SSS inquiries:
Call Center: 1455 Toll Free: 1-800-10-2255777
Email: SBWSQueries@sss.gov.ph
Facebook: fb.com/SSSPh
Website: www.sss.gov.ph
I just ask if my bussiness was qualified in this program?
Hi Jeffrey and JECAN, you can check if your company is pre-qualified by accessing the SSS or BIR websites (there’s a icon/link there for SBWS). Good luck.
Hi ask lg po aku pano po ba if yung number na binigay ng employer ku sa sbws nwala po yung number di ku po na recived yung tex ng sss?control number?pasagot po maraming slamat po
Hi Analyn. Email and cellnumber are included as contact details in the application. The SSS primer says that an email notification will be sent to both the employer and the qualified employee. Perhaps those who already received the financial assistance can confirm if they received the notice by text and email. In any case, the availability of funds can be checked through the bank account, or the other modes of payout selected by the employer. Good luck.
Ako po ay member mg SSS since 1997 bakit po Hindi ako nakasama sa SBWS ano po kulang e kumpleto nmn tin number ko.tnx
Hi Roderick. Ang SSS ang nag-aaprove, so sila lang ang makakasagot kung bakit. Mas maganda kung itanong mo derecho sa SSS. Good luck.
Kasama po ba sa SSS SUBSIDY ang merong 19 months contribution… Salamat
Hi Antonio. Kung compliant naman sa regulations ng SSS, pwede mag-qualify. Good luck.
Maaari pa po ba ako ulit makatanggap sa 2nd tranche this may 16 2020.?
Kung processing disburment po ako sa sss sbws at naconfirm nun may 9 pa may aasahan po ba ako na makakakuha 1st tranche ko pa lang po ito kung sakali pero hanggang ngayon wala parin po ako narerecieved na txt mula sa sss po.
Hi Rose Ann. Ang SSS lang ang makakasagot niyan. Paki-coordinate na lang derecho sa SSS. Good luck.
Ako po c marcosa espada po exbataan agency pwdi mo mag tanong bakit d po nakatangap na ayuda sa sss ano po bang problima sa sss ko
Good day sir and mam
Domingo solito. Itanong ko lang sana paano kung hindi ako nahulugan ng bago kong company hindi po kami kasama dun ayuda na 8000. Hindi kami nakasama sa dswd. At sa dole naman wala kami natatanggap.
Sana po matulungan nyo kami kasi po wala kaming ibang pagkukunan ng pagkain namin araw araw.
Sana po matugunang nyo itong aking katanungan.
Magpapasalamat:
Domingo solito
Hi Domingo. We’re sorry to hear about your predicament. Mas mainam siguro na i-kontak ang mga lokal na opisyal ninyo o di kaya ang municipal social worker. Good luck.
Totoo po ba na ang mga hindi naka-receive ng 1st tranche within May 1-16 is possible na double makukuha during the period of distribution of the 2nd tranche? Please answer. Thank you.
Hi Marjorie. Pwede naman, ngunit ang SSS lang talaga ang makakapagbigay ng definitive na sagot sa tanong na iyan. Sila kasi ang nag-aaprove. Good luck.
do we need to pay for this after ecq? is tbis consider as a loan na will be deducted in our payroll after ecq?
Hi Precious. It’s a financial assistance from the government. It’s not a loan and there’s no need to pay it back.
good day po mam/sir tanung lang po ako kung makukuha paba yung subsidy kopo kasi yung naabigay kopo yung bank account kopo hindi na kasi activated po. tanung kulang po ma e-process paba yan uli ??
Hi Rey. Perhaps you can check with SSS and ask how to substitute the details. Good luck.
For SSS inquiries
SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP
EMPLOYEE EMPLOYMENT STATUS : CASUAL / ON-CALL BASIS
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEE/LABOR: 1
QUESTION: IS OUR EMPLOYEE ENTITLED FOR SBWS GOVERNMENT PROGRAM?
Sana ako din pan bili lang ng pagkain namin
Paano po ba pag ang empleyado ay walang tin id pwede pa rin po ba sya makatanggap ng benefits yung mga kasamahan nya po nakatanngap na dahil wala po syang tin id wala daw po syang matatanggap
Hi Cass. Required sa application form ang TIN. Kung hindi kumpleto, malamang hindi mapa-process. Good luck.
Kami po naapply na nang employer namin .bakit po wala paring txt samin ang sss .Kasamahan ko lang pong may Atm ang nakakuha .Makakakuha pa po ba kami ?
Hi tanong lang po ako nalilito lamang po talaga ako sa terms na ginamit. March 11,2020 po ako nagsimulang pumasok sa bagong company na nilipatan ko, qualified employee po ba ako?
Hi Jan. The phrase “employed and active since March 1” covers employees hired and active since March 1 (so, March 11 is covered). Your company must check if it is qualified. Good luck.
Question po
Hindi po ba ito papayaran ng employee o employer after ECQ?
Salamat po
Hi Riza. It’s an outright financial aid from the government, which means there’s no need to reimburse. Good luck.
Hi good morning, ask ko Lang po Kung pwede po ba ako maka apply Ng calamity loan, pero meron pa po ako salary loan?
This SBWS po ba under lang ng ECQ area? How aBout po 1st tranche under ECQ bt MAY 20 nag GCQ napo kami.. Makakatanggap pa po ba kami ng 2nd tranche??
Hi Winlove. Ang SSS ang magde-decide. Mas maganda kung sa SSS itanong. Good luck.
Hi po.. Since lockdown d na ako nakapasok. May 5 po bumalik ako sa work until may10 lang kasi na sent home ako dahil sa asthma. May nakuha ako 8k na sbws ung May 6.. Last Thur lang po ako pumasok ulit since May 10. Considered na ba akong skeletal kaya wala akong nakuha sa second tranche kasi mga kasamahan ko meron na..
Hi,
Our company is qualified but your website is under maintenance. How can we make it to the deadline?
Hi Jing. Just a clarification, it is not “our” website 😉 Incidentally, the SSS (who controls the website) issued an advisory that its website has been down since yesterday, 18 April. The SSS noted that the “overwhelming response to this program surpassed the computing capacity of the system.” You can also try the BIR website. Good luck.
SSS system naman is down most of the time, been requesting to reset my user id and password but didn’t received any reply email until now from them.
Hi Medalle. The SSS issued an advisory that its website has been down since yesterday, 18 April. The SSS noted that the “overwhelming response to this program surpassed the computing capacity of the system.” You can also try the BIR website. Good luck.
Ask q lang po kung yong company namin ay qualified po ba?
Self-employed po ako 10yrs member contributed. May matatanggap po ba ako?
We cannot “log in” in SSS online system. Is there any alternative ways how to pass the requirements?
we cannot log in sss website,may i ask kung illegible ba ako na makasali sa sbws,may pisonet ako starting palang 5 units,nagsarado due to lockdown,tnx po
Nagtxt ang sss na nacredit na daw sa bank account ko ug FA ko..pero pacheck ko ng atm ko…wala naman laman..
Hi RJ. Mas mainam na isangguni mo derecho sa SSS. Mukhang maraming ganyang kaso. Sabi ng iba, kulang ang natanggap. Ang SSS lang ang pwede mag-confirm nyan. Good luck.
Hi po maam magtatanong po sana aq about sa sbws ko po nagfile po si employer sa sss pero hanggang ngayon po wala padin po aq nakukuha sa sbws kht po naricieve na txt wala din po.