Some Fijians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and were entitled to financial assistance under the Fiji National Provident Fund were turned away by some FNPF staff.
This was revealed by Attorney General and Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum following a meeting with the Fund.
“We had also some issues; normally these things do happen in the first couple of days where some FNPF staff had turned away some people who were not supposed to be turned away so we’ve ironed that out,” Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“We’ve also just had discussions with FNPF and the PS of Economy about some of these issues that have come about. Some more guidelines have been rolled out.”
Under the COVID-19 Response Budget announced a week ago, hospitality sector workers who have lost their jobs or have hours cut can access initial $1000 from their FNPF accounts, while employees affected by the physical distancing requirements along with employees in the confined Lautoka area who had been placed on leave without pay or cut hours would be able to access an initial $500 from their FNPF accounts.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum also said employers needed to provide letters required for the affected employees to access the FNPF assistance.
“They should not see this as an opportunity to not assist employees. They should provide those letters and those employees will be entitled to those assistance that we’ve announced.”
