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Amended Procedures for Assistance for Job Retention for the months of August to December 2020

August 17, 2020

The FA4JR Committee announces new procedures for the application process for the months of August to December 2020.

Similar to July, from August 2020 onwards, only the wages of Seychellois employees – who were employed in April and remain employed by the same business in July will receive assistance. As at the close of 14th of August 2020, 990 businesses had submitted their payroll. All businesses which are yet to do so, are advised to submit their July payroll with only the Seychellois employees and capping at SCR 30,000 by or before Friday 21st August2020 via the online portal renewal tab https://mof.egov.sc/fa4jrsubmissions. Unless this is submitted, the August payment will not be processed for those businesses.

Upon submission of the July payroll, note that adjustments may be made in respect of sums disbursed for the month of July and going forward.

From August onwards, assistance for all businesses who were assisted in July will continue to be eligible under the FA4JR scheme, subject to the provisions and procedures declared by the Committee. However, businesses that have amendments in payroll will need to submit the details via the online portal on a monthly basis, from September 2020.  It is to be noted that no new recruitment and increase in salary compared to the April payroll will be considered for the financial assistance.

Self-employed individuals who are being assisted by FA4JR are being  automatically registered with the Seychelles Employee Transition Scheme (SETS). 

Entities that have not applied, or were unsuccessful in their applications between April and July can re-apply.  Applications will be subject to the criteria listed in Appendix A, and will have different documentary evidence requirement compared to prior months

The deadline to submit the August application for those businesses that have not received the assistance previously will be Friday 28th August 2020. Applicants are advised to ensure that all documents are attached with their application to prevent any delay with the assessment.

Only applications through the online portal will be accepted from the month of August to December 2020. Any businesses that need assistance to complete the applications on the online portal can:

        i.            Call the 190 hotline and staff will provide assistance.

      ii.            Visit the office of the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning at Liberty House, but prior                                     appointment will need to be organised.

    iii.            Visit SETS office on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue from Thursday 20th August 2020.

Below is the list of business categories that are heavily reliant on tourism arrivals.  Entities in the categories listed below that had applied for assistance, but were not eligible solely due to having sufficient funds are being assisted from July onwards.  The businesses in the tourism sector category that have tax issues with Seychelles Revenue Commission will need to rectify the outstanding tax issues before submitting their application.

  1.   Hotels/Self Catering/Guests Houses
  2.   Restaurants
  3.   Transportation (Taxi, Care Hire, Bicycle Operators, Omnibus Operators that do not have contract with Government)
  4.   Tour Guide/Operators
  5.   Yacht/Boat Charters/Operators
  6.   Destination Management Companies/Operators
  7.   Diving centres/Operators
  8.   Artisans/Boutiques at the tourism establishments
  9.   Spa at the tourism establishments
  10.   Airlines
  11.   Other related tourism activities which are wholly reliant on tourism

Appendix A

Below are the criteria that are going to be used for assessment of applicants for the August to December 2020 period.

  1.       Registered and/or licensed entity
  2.       Lodged Business Tax returns in 2017 or more recently
  3.       Been in operation/existence before March 2020
  4.       Demonstrate that the inability to cover wages is a result of COVID-19
  5.       Entities must be able to show that January to February 2020 turnover was at least 90% of January to February 2019 –              based on activity in bank statements.
  6.       Entities must be able to show a drop of more than 60% in turnover over the March to June 2020 period compared to the            amounts banked from March to June 2019.
  7.       Demonstrate tangibly that their drop in activity stems from the economic conditions in the country post-March 2020.

For any further enquiries, please call 190 during working hours or email queries.fa4jr@finance.gov.sc or visit the online portal on https://mof.egov.sc/FA4JRsubmissions  to complete the necessary forms.

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