AMMAN — Prime Minister
Bisher Al-Khasawneh issued on Monday Defense Order No. 52, which extended the
duration of the “Estidama” and “Himayah” protection programs, provided by the
Social Security Corporation (SSC) and associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, until the
end of June of 2022.
اضافة اعلان
Experts expressed
conflicting opinions on the importance of sustaining the programs. Proponents
of their abolition said that there is no need for these programs to continue,
given that the economy is beginning to recover, whereas those in favor of their
continuation said that they are important, given that the repercussions of the
pandemic are still being felt.
Estidama covers 50
percent of workers’ wages in businesses and organizations that are unable to
operate due to the pandemic. Himayah extends that coverage to those employed in
tourism and transportation.
In remarks to
Jordan
News, Director of the Workers’ House Hamada Abu Nijmeh contended that the
government did not take into consideration the impact the defense order has on
the rights of workers, because “like previous defense orders, it relied on
arrangements between the SSC and employers, without taking into account that
the insurance law and its system are all found to serve the workers and to
protect their wages and rights.”
Abu Nijmeh said that the
provisions of insurance and protection stipulated in the Social Security Law
are based on a direct relationship between workers and the SSC, without employers’
involvement.
He added that the law does
not permit the SSC to agree with employers on any arrangements related to
workers' rights and entitlements, and that what is happening in this regard “constitutes
an explicit violation of the main purpose of the existence of social security and
its (programs).”
He also said that Defense
Order 52 maintains the authority of the Director General of Social Security to
determine the establishments in which workers' wages may be reduced within
“Estidama” program, so that the worker receives 85 percent of his wages, as stipulated
in the previous order No. 45, “a power that is not linked to any specific
restrictions or rules”.
He pointed that there is
still a “real problem” in the legal formulation of defense orders and that this
could have been avoided through “more clear and comprehensive” language.
Mousa Al-Subaihi, an
insurance and social protection expert and former spokesman for the SSC told
Jordan
News, that the SSC should end all its protection programs, “due to the large
expenditures that must be borne by the SSC”.
He added that the value
of the Social Security Investment Fund’s financial assets will drop more in the
next period if the SSC continues with its programs.
For his part, Asaad Al-Qawasmi, who represents the clothing
sector at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, told
Jordan News that the
support programs helped the clothing sector retain its workers despite the
pandemic.
He also stressed the need to continue including the clothing
sector in the protection programs moving forward, in order to encourage shop
owners to expand their businesses.
Industrialist
and economic writer Musa Al-Saket told
Jordan News that the protection
programs had saved a good number of companies that were affected by the
pandemic.
Saket found it
unfortunate that “some sectors were unable to apply for the programs on the
pretext that they were not significantly affected,” urging the government to
reclassify the affected sectors again so that more sectors could benefit from
the programs.
He explained that
companies in certain sectors might be highly affected, but “were jilted due to
the fact that they were not among the most affected ... sectors”.
SSC spokesperson Shaman Al-Majali
told
Jordan News that the corporation’s selection of the most affected
sectors was based on governmental reports, in addition to decisions taken by the
SSC, adding that the SSC has tried its best to cover all affected sectors.
The SSC said in a press statement
that the number of establishments benefiting from the
Estidama and Estidama+
programs reached more than 2,400 establishments, employing more than 41,000
workers.
The corporation indicated
that the defense order allowed the enterprises benefiting from Estidama program
to reduce old-age insurance contributions by 50 percent for some or all of its
employees for the duration of the program.
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