Nothing is as terrifying as losing your job without any warning, more so if you’re the family’s breadwinner. Sadly, this is the reality for most Filipinos who rely on employment as their only source of income. But thanks to the SSS unemployment benefit, one of the key provisions of the Republic Act 11199 (also known as the Social Security Act of 2018), Filipino employees who just got laid off can have a temporary source of income to keep things afloat while they’re looking for a new job. In this guide, you’ll learn how to apply or file an SSS unemployment benefits claim so you won’t lose your mind after losing your job. After all, unemployment is not the end of the world! Go back to the main article: SSS Contribution Table (with Detailed Computations and Explanations)
The SSS unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit is available to employees, including the kasambahays and OFWs, provided that they meet the following qualification requirements:
1. Must not be more than 60 years old at the time of sudden unemployment. However, a lower age requirement is applied for those working as underground/surface mineworkers and racehorse jockeys who must NOT be over 50 and 55 years old, respectively.
2. Has paid at least 3 years (36 months) worth of monthly contributions, 12 months of which should be in the 18-month period immediately preceding the month of involuntary separation/unemployment.
3. With no settled SSS unemployment benefit within the last 3 years prior to the date of unemployment. You can only apply for this benefit ONCE every three years so if you already received this benefit within this period, you’ll be disqualified to get another one.
4. Has been involuntarily separated/laid off due to a valid reason.
This valid reason can either be one of the authorized causes for termination of the employee under Articles 298 (283) and 299 (284) of P.D. No. 442 (Labor Code of the Philippines) 7 , as amended:
Or, one of the causes that allow an employee to quit his job without notice to the employer, as stated under Article 300 (285) of P.D. No. 442 (Labor Code of the Philippines), as amended. These are:
Other causes of termination:
Not all employees who were involuntarily laid off can avail of the unemployment insurance from SSS. As a rule, employees can’t get unemployment benefits if the cause of the termination is one (or more) of the causes stated under Article 297 (282) of P.D. No. 442 (Labor Code of the Philippines), as amended. These are:
In other words, you are qualified to get the benefits if the reason why you’re laid off is outside of your control and not caused by your negative behavior. Otherwise, you’ll be disqualified and your employer has the upper hand in preventing you from getting unemployment insurance.
You can bring any one of the following primary ID cards/documents:
If you don’t have any of the above-mentioned valid IDs, you can bring the original copies and photocopies of any two (2) ID cards/documents not included on the list, provided that both of them contain your signature and at least one of them shows your photo.
All qualified employees who want to avail of the SSS unemployment insurance/benefits are required to secure a DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) certification establishing the nature and date of the involuntary separation.
To apply for the DOLE certification, you need the following:
Once you already have the above requirements, proceed to the following office to file your application for DOLE certification:
As long as the documentary requirements you’ve submitted are complete, expect the DOLE Office or POLO to issue you the DOLE certification within one (1) day after receiving and verifying your application.
Should you get approved, you won’t receive the benefits in the form of cash or check. Instead, SSS requires those who will avail of this benefit to have a disbursement account enrolled with the SSS through the Disbursement Account Enrollment Module or DAEM. The SSS will disburse the unemployment benefits through any of the following payment channels:
After approval, the unemployment benefits will be credited to your account so it’s imperative to have one of those mentioned above. If you don’t have a bank account, you’ve got the following options:
Among the three, you might consider getting the UBP Quick Card because:
The sudden surge of unemployment brought about by the nationwide lockdown has pushed the Social Security System (SSS) to work on an online filing system that will fast-track the application process for SSS unemployment benefits.
According to SSS President and CEO Aurora Ignacio, the said online filing system could be available as early as April 9 to all the displaced workers due to the pandemic, the total number of which is yet to be accounted for due to the limited workforce of the SSS.
Update: As of June 25, 2020, applications for the SSS unemployment benefits can now be filed online.
If you’re qualified to receive SSS unemployment benefits, you may proceed with the online filing of application by following the steps below:
You may access it by clicking this link. There are three portals to choose from: Member, Employer, and Small Business Wage Subsidy Program.
Since the SSS unemployment benefits are only available to members who have recently lost their jobs, choose Member.
Enter your user ID and password on the SSS Member Login page. Tick the captcha box and then click Submit to access your My.SSS account.
In case you have forgotten your user ID or password, read the instructions here to retrieve it.
If you haven’t created a My.SSS account yet, go to this SSS online registration guide to know about the process.
Hover your cursor over the E-SERVICES menu and then click Apply for Unemployment Benefit to proceed with the online application.
At the top of the page, you’ll see your mailing address, contact number, and email address connected to your account. Make sure they’re updated. You may click the link provided should you need to make any changes.
Then, fill out the online filing form.
Use the following guide to ensure you’ll provide accurate answers to the required fields:
Double-check the encoded details to make sure they’re complete and accurate. Otherwise, you might encounter problems in claiming the benefits due to erroneous information.
Once everything is ready, click Proceed.
If you agree with the information provided, click Submit to proceed with the application.
Make sure that the photo or scanned image of the document/s comply with the file size requirement set by the SSS. Most applications are rejected due to the file size of the attached documents being too small or too big. If the file size is required to be 2 MB, for example, make sure to adjust the size of your scanned images accordingly. If you only took a photo of your document, you can easily scale down the size by taking a screenshot of the same photo in your gallery.
After sending the requirements, SSS will send another email confirming they have received your message and processing of your application has officially started. Don’t forget to save or write down the ticket number because you will be needing this when you follow up on your application later on.
About 5 to 10 days from the date of your application, SSS will release the money either to your enrolled savings account or other payment channels approved by SSS such as your UMID-ATM card, PayMaya, and remittance transfer companies.
No. The SSS unemployment benefit is an involuntary separation benefit (meaning it’s not your choice to be fired). Therefore, employees who voluntarily quit the job will not be granted a DOLE certificate, thereby disqualifying them from getting the SSS unemployment benefits.
There are plenty of reasons why DOLE may refuse to issue you a certification. Here are the most common ones:
Unfortunately, no. The SSS unemployment benefits/insurance is only available to employed members (including the kasambahays and OFWs) in the event that they get laid off from their jobs. If you’re a voluntary member who needs cash for your short-term needs, you can apply for an SSS salary loan instead.
Yes. The unemployment benefit is a BENEFIT, not a loan. Therefore, having an existing loan won’t prevent you from availing of it. As long as you meet all the qualification requirements listed here and you didn’t resign from your job, then you’re welcome to apply.
You’ll receive the cash benefit after 5-10 working days from the date of application.
No. You can only be qualified to receive the unemployment benefit if you’ve been permanently laid off. The “temporarily laid off” status will only result in the rejection of your application.
Layoffs involve employees who have lost their jobs due to reasons not related to their actual job performances. In other words, it’s an involuntary separation from work, thereby making them qualified to avail of the unemployment benefits.
However, layoffs can either be temporary or permanent. SSS only issues unemployment benefits to permanently laid-off employees who are already considered jobless without all the company benefits they used to enjoy.
No. Technically, furloughed employees are still employees. They may be temporarily off the payroll but they retain their employment rights and can still enjoy some of the company benefits. They are different from laid-off workers who are technically not employees of the company anymore.
Since furloughed employees are still considered employed, they can’t be issued the required termination contract and DOLE certificate necessary to be qualified for the SSS unemployment benefits.
No. The SSS unemployment benefit is only for workers who were involuntarily separated from their work. If your contract ended, then you were not terminated so you won’t be issued a termination contract which is necessary to qualify for the SSS unemployment benefits.
There’s no statement in the SSS Circular No. 2019-011 that suggests laid-off members who got hired by a new employer aren’t entitled to unemployment benefits.
However, one of the limitations in the said circular states that if the “employee is rehired or re-employed within the compensable period”, the “settled unemployment insurance or involuntary separation benefit shall be deducted, either in partial or full, from the future benefit/s of the member”.
The compensable period is the time during which the member is entitled to receive unemployment benefits. In this case, members are covered by unemployment benefits for a maximum of two (2) months.
In other words, if you apply for unemployment benefits and got re-hired or re-employed within two months after your involuntary separation from the previous employer, you may still get the benefits but they will be deducted either fully or partially (depending on how soon you got rehired) from the other SSS benefits you will apply for in the future.
SSS now encourages all members to file their unemployment benefits claims online. Not only is it more convenient, but the online application also ensures members are protected from numerous health hazards outside.
SSS won’t send you a notification indicating that the money has been sent to your account. What you can do is wait for 5 to 10 days for the money to reflect in your bank account. You may also check your My.SSS account to see if the unemployment benefit has already been processed and delivered.
Otherwise, you may contact SSS via email ([email protected]) or any of their social media channels.
Take note that the best way to verify the status of your unemployment benefits is through email. To inquire via email, please send the following information to [email protected]:
To avoid your request from getting rejected, please ensure that the size of your file attachment/s doesn’t exceed 4 MB.
If you have already sent an email but still haven’t got a response, you can make a follow-up request by visiting the official SSS Facebook page and leaving a comment on one of their posts. However, for SSS to check the status of your inquiry, they need you to provide the ticket number. This ticket number can be found in the auto-generated response sent to you immediately after making your first email inquiry.
Alternatively, you can also try calling SSS hotlines anytime from Monday to Friday, although expect a long waiting time as their call center hotlines must have been dealing with a lot of calls on a daily basis. The SSS Call Center hotlines are as follows:
Luisito E. Batongbakal Jr. is the founder, editor, and chief content strategist of FilipiKnow, a leading online portal for free educational, Filipino-centric content. His curiosity and passion for learning have helped millions of Filipinos around the world get access to free insightful and practical information at the touch of their fingertips. With him at the helm, FilipiKnow has won numerous awards including the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs 2013, the 2015 Globe Tatt Awards, and the 2015 Philippine Bloggys Awards.
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