1 Liene Ramane Social Insurance Department Ministry of Welfare trESS seminar RIGA, 19 April 2012 Latvian experience and problems of coordination of unemployment benefits

2 Regulations (EC) Nos.883/2004 and 987/2004 Regulation (EC) No.883/2004: –Article 1 – definitions; –Article 6 – aggregation of periods; –Articles – unemployment benefits; –Article 76 – cooperation between competent authorities; Regulation (EC) No.987/2009: –Articles 2-5 – exchanging data between institutions and persons; –Articles – determining residence and aggregation of periods; –Articles – application of unemployment benefits chapter; –Articles 66-68, 70 & 90 – reimbursement between institutions, payments, late payments and reimbursement of UB.

3 Main changes with new Regulations UB export is paid by the Competent institution of the MS which awarded UB; UB can be exported for 3 months and this period can be prolonged to 6 months; Unemployed person who previously was a cross-border can make himself/herself available to Employment Services in the MS of last activity in addition to Employment Services in the MS of residence; For unemployed, whose last activity was in other MS, but residence is, for example, LV – LV is calculating UB from insurance contributions made in the MS of last activity; MS of last activity reimburse the UB paid by LV for first 3 months, in some cases for first 5 months.

4 Decisions and Recommendations of Administrative Commission –Decision U1 relating to increases in UB for dependent members of the family; –Decision U2 on the right to unemployment benefits of wholly unemployed persons other than frontier workers who were resident in the territory of a Member State other than the competent Member State during their last period of employment or self-employment; –Decision U3 concerning the scope of the concept of ‘partial unemployment’ applicable to the unemployed persons; –Decision U4 concerning the reimbursement procedures under Article 65(6) and (7) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and Article 70 of Regulation (EC) No 987/2009; –Recommendation U1 and Recommendation U2.

5 Portable documents U1 (previously E301) – certifies periods of insurance in another member state; U2 (previously E303) – authorization to export UB for person concerned; U3 – changes in situation, which may need to be taken into account towards a revision of benefit payments.

6 National legislation Law On Unemployment Insurance; On Payment of State Allowances during the Time Period from 2009 to 2014; Support for Unemployed Persons and Persons Seeking Employment Law; Main requirements: - 9 months of unemployment insurance contributions during last 12 months; - person has obtained unemployed persons status; - other requirements.

7 Unemployment in Latvia In February 2012 in Latvia there were unemployed persons or 11.8% of economically active persons; or 55.84% from all unemployed are women; More than 42% from all unemployed persons are in 45+ age group.

8 Who applies UB coordination in Latvia? State Social Insurance Agency (SSIA, subordinated to the Ministry of Welfare): –International Services Division (issue of portable documents, check status of unemployed person via Employment Agency, etc.); –Territorial Divisions (collects applications for U2).

9 Statistics of UB coordination In 2011: 230 U1 and U2 issued; 159 U2 refused; 266 E301 issued; 4 E302 issued; 117 E303 received; 472 U1 and U2 received. In 1st quarter of 2012: 57 U1 and U2 issued; 35 U2 refused; 64 E301 issued; 50 E303 received; 35 U1 and U2 received. LV  Ireland, Germany and UK; Iceland & Ireland  LV (in most cases - jobseekers who return back to LV).

10 Experience of application (I) Transition to new regulations: In April 2010 special UB coordination seminar for International Services Division; In information provided in yearly seminars for Territorial Divisions; SSIA Internal Instruction for UB coordination; Information distributed to EURES experts in yearly seminars; SSIA accepts PD’s, SED’s and E-forms and issues U2 and E-forms, other PD’s if needed.

11 Experience of application (II) Unemployed person: Fills the application available on-line (at International Services Division or Territorial Division)  hands in the application to his Territorial Division  International Services Division; Find the relevant information regarding his/her rights when looking for a job in web-site of the Ministry of Welfare, SSIA, Employment Agency + consultation in person.

12 Experience of application (III) Internal process of co-ordination: Until now SSIA has no experience in reimbursement of UB; first claims are received just lately; All cases are processed within SSIA’s IT system (SAIS); Quarterly reports on application of coordination instruments; every six months report to the Ministry of Welfare; SSIA is linked with Employment Agency on-line in order to follow persons employment status and inform Employment Agency on information received from other MS.

13 Experience of application (IV) Cooperation with other competent institutions: Communication via paper E-forms, PD’s and SED’s; E-communication, if necessary ( s, fax); Communication mainly in English and German.

14 Main problems and questions (I) Persons to whom the LV UB is awarded, when moving to another MS, sometimes “forget” to apply for U2; Persons who have been employed in other MS do not apply for UB in this MS of last activity, as their main goal is to return to LV, not seek employment in LV;

15 Main problems and questions (II) Cooperation with some MS are quite slow, especially in such aspect as monthly reports regarding changes in status of person concerned; Application of paragraph 2 and paragraph 5 a) of Article 65 of Regulation No.883/2004: how long employment period could be viewed as stable employment period? Some MS have already reimbursed overpayments of LV UB, but some have refused the reimbursement on ground that person concerned would not have right to UB according to their national legislation (now solved with AC Decision U4).

16 Thank you!