Attention! Several favorable polices have been issued.
On April 25, 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the “Notice for adjusting the unemployment insurance to stabilize posts and improving work skills to prevent unemployment” (Ren She Bu Fa [2022] No.23, hereinafter referred to as the “Notice”), which involves many favorable policies for enterprises.
- Refund of unemployment insurance premiums
The “Notice” stipulates that unemployment insurance premiums can be refunded in different proportions according to the size of the enterprise and the rate of layoffs.
The premise of the refund is that the insured enterprise has not laid off employees in the previous year, or the layoff rate is not higher than the unemployment rate control target of the national urban survey in the previous year. In addition, for the insured enterprises with less than 30 employees (inclusive), the layoff rate must not be higher than 20% of the total number of employees.
The refund base is the unemployment insurance premiums actually paid by the enterprise and its employees in the previous year. The refund ratio is no more than 30% for large enterprises, and no more than 90% for small, medium and micro enterprises.
This refund policy will be implemented until December 31, 2022. It should be noted that, except for certain cities and provinces, in principle, enterprises need to apply for the refund.
- Skill improvement subsidy
The “Notice” stipulates that the in-service employees of the enterprise have paid the unemployment insurance premiums for more than one year, and the insured employees who have obtained vocational qualification certificates or vocational skill level certificates can apply for skills improvement subsidies. The subsidy standard is that the maximum amount for primary (level five) is CNY1,000, for intermediate (level four) is CNY 1,500, and for advanced (level three) is CNY 2,000.
The maximum number of applications for the subsidy is no more than 3 times per person per year. The policy will be implemented until December 31, 2022.
- Subsidy for training on job retention
The “Notice” stipulates those eligible enterprises could take work as training, and receive a one-time subsidy for training on job retention of no more than CNY500 per person based on the number of the insured employees.
The subsidy is only provided to small, medium and micro enterprises which are located in the cities (prefectures, states, leagues), counties (cities, districts, flags) that have accumulated more than 1 (inclusive) medium and high-risk epidemic areas) during January 1 to December 31, 2022, and are temporarily unable to produce or operate normally due to the severe impact of the epidemic.
- To reduce relevant insurances’ rate and extend the due date
The “Notice” stipulates that the policy of reducing unemployment insurance and work-related injury insurance rates in stages will be continued for one year, and the implementation due date will be April 30, 2023.
For enterprises in the industry of catering, retail, tourism, civil aviation, road, water, and railway transportation, the policy of deferred payment of pension insurance, unemployment insurance, and work-related injury insurance premiums will be implemented in stages. The due date of the payment of pension insurance would be extended for 3 months, and the payment for the other two insurances would be extended for 1 year, in addition there is no late fee for such extension period.