Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS)

The Financial Provisions (Covid-19) (2) Act 2020 (Act No. 8 of 2020) was signed into law on Saturday 1 August 2020. It inserted section 28B into the Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Covid-19) Act 2020. This provides for the introduction of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS).

EWSS is an economy-wide enterprise support that focuses primarily on business eligibility. The scheme provides a flat-rate subsidy to qualifying employers based on the numbers of eligible employees on the employer’s payroll and gross pay to employees.

The EWSS replaced the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) from 1 September 2020. It is expected to continue until 31 March 2021.

Further guidance can be found in the Guidelines on the operation of the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme.