Safe House

The Labour Ministry will tap into a pool of Rs. 6.5 bn in dormant EPF monies, for seed capital to set up an Unemployment Insurance Fund for retrenched workers.








ldblquote The Rs.3 bn fund will be topped up with an employer contribution of 0.





15 percent and employee contribution of 0.

1 percent on the last drawn salary dblquote , Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told Lanka Business Online.

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rnldblquote This will apply to employees drawing a salary of Rs. 20,000 and under. So the contribution works out to a maximum Rs.

30 for employers and Rs. 20 for employees each month, which is nominal, dblquote Samarasinghe said.



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rnModelled on the lines of the dole, retrenched workers will be paid half a months salary for a period of one year out of this Fund.rn

rnThe Labour Ministry has been putting an employee safety net in place, after recent labour reforms made way for easier retrenchment of workers.rn

rnEmployers have long been agitating for a standard severance payments formula, with previous legis