The Ministry of Finance and Economic Management has provided VCCI with an electronic form (in Microsoft Excel format) for eligible employers to use to access the Employment Stabilisation Payment. VCCI are providing a support service and you can find the following important documents here:

1. ESP Application Form (Excel Spreadsheet – Please note it has 4 tabs)
2. Employer Checklist – of documentation you will need
3. ESP Guide – this helps you to understand how to fill in the form (to be uploaded soon)

If you would like to ask questions on this Employee Stabilisation Payment, you can call on our free hotline 080808 between 8am and 3pm on weekdays.

If you would like help completing the form, you are invited to visit the Business Support Centre situated at VCCI’s Port Vila office for face to face assistance. Please bring the documents in the checklist above when you come to the office.

VCCI will be partnering with Department of Tourism to ensure that there are appropriate provincial government officers to offer provincial based businesses support to access the ESP – however this wont be ready until May 2020.

More businesses qualify with relaxed Employment Stabilization Payment conditions

We are delighted to share with you the changes that the Department of Finance announced on Saturday 6 June regarding the ESP. Most notably, the conditions have been relaxed meaning that more businesses will be considered for payments.

The new condition is that businesses can demonstrate that they have been affected by the economic down turn. The Department of Finance is asking businesses to demonstrate this by presenting a VAT payment receipt from 2019, and for the same period in 2020, highlighting in an accompanying statement the effects of this reduction in income. Any business with a valid business license may now apply for the ESP.

How do I apply if I have already submitted my application?

If you have already applied for the ESP, you will simply need to email the Department of Finance (esp-enquiry@vanuatu.gov.vu) and let them know you have already submitted and application, AND include in this email:

1. A 2019 and comparable 2020 VAT receipt
2. A short explanation what the nature of your business is and how the economic has affected your business
3. Include updated VNPF receipts and schedules for April, May, June 2020 to receive your monthly payments

Additional requirements to receive the April, May and June payments

If you submitted your application and are now waiting on April, May and June’s payments you need to submit to Finance the following additional paperwork:

1. VNPF March, April and May receipts and Schedule if paid;
2. List of employees who have received payment in the month of March (with employees’ signatures);
3. List of employees whose employment status has changed since the date of submitting your ESP application for the month of March.