WILLEMSTAD — the Council of Ministers yesterday approved of the 'Lei di Bion', a law designed to tackle youth unemployment.

 

Prime Minister IvarAsjes reports that the law was approved and published in 1989, but never entered into force. Earlier, General Affairs sector director Norberto Ribeiro reported that it is desirable that the law will come into force per September 1st this year. That date still stands, Asjes said.

 

The law is a scheme to promote employment for job seekers aged between 18 and 30, who have been unemployed for more than one year, and where the Government exempts employers from the payment of social security contributions, but also from the payment of withheld payroll taxes for these young people.

 

The social security costs covered by this exemption are the employers ' share in the general old-age insurance, the premiums for general insurance for widows and orphans and the sickness and accident insurance.

 

Those payments will therefore have to be paid by the Government. But interim Minister Ben Whiteman [PS] for Social Affairs and Employment yesterday could not specify the amount. "The cost depends on the infrastructure and part of it is already present, such as the job bank." There will also be information rounds for employers, the general public and the target group itself and there will be a controlling body, inter alia, for the annual payments of premiums to the SVB. But according to Whiteman, the Minister of Ffinance, Jose Jardim, already indicated that application of the law can turn out more profitable when compared to the premiums now paid by the Government for people on welfare.

 

The employment relationship which should be offered to subsidized youth concerns appointments of at least six months with an average work week of at least 32 hours against at least the minimum wage.

 

If the scheme is actually carried out, many more local people can get to work on the labor market. The idea that the Lei di Bion is a replacement of the 80/20 rule, does not apply.

 

"Those are two separate laws," said the Prime Minister.In the 80/20 Bill of 2011, each company had to be required to handle a distribution of at least 80% local employees and 20 percent foreign workers. However, this law never came into force. The Lei di Bion will also still have to be signed by the Governor.