NIC TO PRESENT PROPOSALS FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FOR THE INVOLUNTARILY UNEMPLOYED.

In a historic move, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Hon. Philip J. Pierre at an August 4 pre-Cabinet press briefing, announced plans to implement an unemployment insurance program for Saint Lucians who become involuntarily unemployed.

“In keeping with government's policy to improve the quality of life and social protections afforded to citizens, the government has commissioned the National Insurance Corporation (NIC) to present proposals for the establishment of an unemployment insurance program. This program will allow persons who have become involuntarily unemployed to receive unemployment benefits. The government is committed to establishing this unemployment insurance program which will be implemented alongside an Active Labor Market policy.”

The Active Labor Market policy will assist the unemployed by providing basic work training for disadvantaged groups in particular; by securing work placements that encourage entrepreneurship and small business development, and by providing employer incentives for the provision of staff training.

The Prime Minister explained: “Involuntarily unemployment means you become unemployed through no fault of your own, and most important is the Active Labor Market policy where the NIC will try to reskill and re-train so that those who become unemployed can get another job.

“We don’t want people in a perpetual state of unemployment and government pays. If a person has lost a job involuntarily, the NIC will try to re-train so that person can obtain alternative employment. It is a stop gap measure between losing one job and gaining other, meaningful employment.”

The involuntarily unemployed are defined as those who are willing to work but are unable to due to business closures, job cuts, seasonal fluctuations, or mismatched skillsets.