The Fiji National Provident Fund COVID-19 unemployment assistance will reopen on Monday, August 9 (2021) for the continuation of phases two, four and the voluntary members relief.
However, the new rounds will only be available to members with sufficient General Account balance.
FNPF Acting CEO Viliame Vodonaivalu said the relief would only assist those who met the criteria and could fully self-fund from their General Account balances.
“As announced in the National Budget address, members will only be able to access the FNPF relief if they meet the minimum General Account balance requirement, which is $755 for the next rounds of the Fund’s COVID-19 relief,” Mr Vodonaivalu said in a statement.
“Those who do not qualify are advised to seek Government assistance directly.
“It’s important to note that Government has been fully and partially subsidising thousands of members in the previous rounds of phases two and three and this shift to a direct approach on Government’s part, is an extension of the relief they had been providing since April 2020.
“The Government assistance is also available for members who have sufficient General Account balance (minimum $755) but would rather not withdraw their retirement savings. This is a good initiative by Government as an alternative for members who are conscious of the importance of maintaining their savings with the Fund.”
Mr Vodonaivalu said those members could opt for either the FNPF COVID-19 relief or the Government unemployment benefit, but they could not apply for both.
“Similar to the Government’s unemployment assistance, the Fund will also disburse payments in two installments over a six-month period.”
Phase Two
Mr Vodonaivalu said the same qualifying conditions for unemployment would be applicable for phase 2 – members must be unemployed or on leave without pay from October 2019.
The minimum General Account balance required is $755 and members can access between $720 and a maximum amount $2640.
All applications must be submitted on the myFNPF mobile App.
Phase Four
The phase 4 relief is open to members who have been unemployed from January 2010 to September 2019 and are still unemployed.
The minimum required General Account balance is $755 and the member can access between $720 and $1100.
All applications must be submitted on the myFNPF App.
Voluntary member’s relief
Apart from the minimum General Account balance of $755, only those members, who signed up for Voluntary Membership prior to August 9, 2021, will be eligible for the voluntary members relief.
The maximum amount for this relief is $1100.
