SSS members who lost jobs can apply for ‍benefits

Members of the Social Security System (SSS) who lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 crisis can now apply online for the pension fund’s unemployment benefit, which is equivalent to half of their average monthly salary credit for a maximum of two months.

“To qualify, covered employees, including kasambahays and overseas Filipino worker-members, must have paid at least 36 monthly SSS contributions, 12 months’ [worth of which] should have been paid within the last 18 months before the month of involuntary separation. Reasons for involuntary separation should be due to retrenchment [or] downsizing, closure or cessation of business operations, and other reasons brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said SSS president and chief executive Aurora Ignacio.

“The member must not be more than 60 years old at the time of involuntary separation, except for underground and surface mine workers, and racehorse jockeys whose age should not be more than 50 and 55 years old, respectively,” she added.

Members need to have a My.SSS account, with their bank accounts enrolled or mobile numbers registered to get their benefits via remittance centers.

My.SSS account

“To submit their benefit application online, members should log-in to their My.SSS account and click ‘apply for unemployment benefit claim’ under the e-services tab. Provide all the pertinent information such as the active savings account enrolled through the bank enrolment module, employment category, date of involuntary separation, the reason for involuntary separation, and the employer’s name [from] where the member was separated,” the SSS said.

After the SSS sends a notification by email, members should reply by attaching the scanned images of the certification issued by the Department of Labor and Employment or by the Philippine Overseas Labor Office, together with the notice of termination from the employer or affidavit of termination from employment, whichever is applicable. The SSS will once again send a notice through email regarding their unemployment benefit application,” the pension fund added.