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
can my employees can still be eligible even thou they are Approved from CAMP DOLE but DID NOT recieve the money from CAMP DOLE? what should i put in our SSS SBWS report? Should it be Yes we are Approved ? or totally NO cause they did not receive the money? help please ty.
Sir/mam puede makita ang list ng mga na approved nyo na salamat poh at more power
Hi Juancho. We are not a private forum, not connected with any of the agencies handling the SAPs. Perhaps they have a list. For applicants, the list may not be necessary because the beneficiaries will be notified anyway. Good luck.
Good day,
Ask ko lang po kung pwede po ba mag apply at the same time ng SBWS at DSWD at the same time?
Pagkaalam ko po na hindi pwede pero meron kasi nagsasabing magkaiba ang subsidies ng SBWS at DSWD. Paki clarify po. Thanks.
Hi Ismael. That’s a very interesting question. The SBWS application includes a question whether the employee is a DOLE CAMP beneficiary (it doesn’t ask if the employee received benefits from DSWD). Good luck.
Pwde po ba send po ulit in code ng sss nadelete ko po ,Nestor p
Hi Nestor. Mas maganda siguro na sa SSS mo i-coordinate ang bagay na iyan. Good luck.
Approved na po ang company sa SBWS kaya lang yung ibang employees na delete nila accidentally yung txt ng SSS kung saan naka state yung control number para ma claim yung subsidy sa payment center. At yung iba naman, hindi pa naka receive ng txt kasi hindi na daw active yung celfone no. na pinasa nila sa employer nung i apply namin yung subsidy. Ano po ang pwedeng gawin ng employee or ng employer? Thank you.
Hi Engracia. Good to know that your company’s application has been approved. As to the question, this is best addressed to the SSS. We don’t know the specific procedure in such a case. Good luck.
Godd day,
Asko ko lang sa processing po ng SBWS, required field-san po po kukunin or manggaling un Passcode.
Thank you.
Hi Carmela. Try the SBWS module at the BIR website. A passcode is generated once you enter the TIN number of the company (bottom right of the popup message). Good luck.
Good Day,
We are under a Labor Service Cooperative, may we know if we are also entitled for SBWS, we try the initial process but was denied by BIR and never had a chance to receive any passcode.
We also emailed BIR for our eligibility but until now no response. Is there any provision or legal basis from the SBWS program that as a labor service cooperative we are entitled or not? Hope you can give us answers for us to shares to our member-workers that are also financially affected by the COVID 19 pandemic.
Hi Ray. Based on what we know, pre-qualified companies receive a notification email from the SSS (not the BIR). Please check with the SSS. Good luck.
Dear Sir/Mam,
Good afternoon, yes but we need to secure the pass code from the BIR SBWS PROGRAM right? and that is the thing we don’t know why BIR SWBS PROGRAM PORTAL was not able to give us a passcode to use in the SSS SWBS PROGRAM PORTAL. That is why we ask if there’s any provision or legal basis from the SBWS program that as a labor service cooperative are we entitled or not.
Any way thank you very much for accommodating our query. The SBWS program is over without any notice given to us by BIR and SSS why our cooperative were not entitled.
Hi Ray. You’re welcome. Good luck!
kasali pa rin po ba and employee sa SBWS kung naabutan cya ng lockdown at hindi nakabalik sa work?
Hi Dez. The qualification is clear that as long as the employee is still connected with the qualified company, the employee should be entitled to the SBWS (note that there’s a separate set of eligibility requirements for the employee). Good luck.
ang mga household po ba na walang mga tin number ay qualified sa sbws po?
Hi Roselyn. The application form requires the TIN and SSS number of both the employer and the employee. Good luck.
Hi ask ko lang po possible po ba na hindi sabay sabay yung credition ng mga employee.. Ung mga co workers ko nakarcv na,pero ako nagcheck po ako ng atm ngayon wala pong 8k na pumasok sa account ko po bpi po ako.
Hi Shaveylaine. We’re not sure, but from what we know, sabay. Also, kahit na eligible ang kumpanya, pwede na hindi eligible ang ibang empleyado. Good luck.
Good day po,
Kumpleto ko po narcv ang salary ko nung March. Padtng ng April 16 nagkaron na po kmi ng reduction of workdays. Eligible po ba ako para sa SBWS program?
Hi Ivan. Option naman ng kumpanya na magbigay ng sahod kahit sa lockdown. Ibang benefit ang SBWS (requirement ay: “Did not get paid by their employer for at least two weeks during the temporary closure “). Ang kasama lang sa form, hindi eligible kung CAMP beneficiary. Good luck.