Unemployment benefit paid up to two months late; Social Security passes the buck to the banks

Unemployment benefit payments to a number of workers who lost their jobs involuntarily arrive late every month, with the delay sometimes reaching two months. Recipients say neither the branches of the Social Security Organization nor the banks give them a clear answer about when the money will be deposited.

In messages to Iran International, a number of these citizens said their benefit is deposited about 20 to 25 days late each month, and that Bank Melli pays later than other banks. One of them, who has 22 years of work history and has been unemployed for six months, said the Social Security branch in Shemiran has not paid his benefit. Another said the benefit is supposed to be paid by the 15th of each month, but some branches have told recipients to wait until the 30th. According to another recipient, Bank Melli and Refah Bank each deny responsibility for the delay. In response, the Social Security Organization said it has issued the payment cheque and the matter is now in the bank's hands.

Financial crisis at the Social Security Organization

Many of these workers say the benefit is their only source of income for living expenses, loan instalments and debts, and that with the delay they cannot cover their families' costs. Mostafa Salari, the managing director of the Social Security Organization, said on 27 July that even if all insurance premiums were collected in full, the organization would still face a monthly shortfall of at least 17,000 billion tomans in paying pensioners. He put the organization's debt to the Central Bank at 75,000 billion tomans.

Social Security pensioners, too, have for months been gathering in Tehran, Isfahan, Rasht and Shush to protest arrears and inadequate pensions. Laid-off workers in various sectors, including a number of workers at Shahid Rajaee Port, have also spoken of difficulty receiving unemployment insurance and of delayed wages, at a time when inflation and rising prices have sharply reduced households' purchasing power.

Workers who have lost their jobs now wait months even for the minimum unemployment benefit.