As the COVID-19 is engulfing the world, it is affecting businesses as well as people. In order to fight that the Japanese government has implemented special measures in order to help the companies to cope up with the losses by providing financial support to small and medium enterprises.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare plans to use an existing employment subsidy, which will help the enterprises to continue paying the employees during these tough times, at least in part.

The companies who have halted their operations are actually entitled to at least 60% of regular pay but the government of Japan has decided to shoulder up to 90% to keep them from being dismissed.

The government of japan has decided to be more generous if the small businesses pay 100% of the last year’s wage levels. It’s being said that the companies will opt for 100% option as they don’t have to pay anything out of their pocket.

The Government of Japan have asked restaurants and other businesses to close or shorten hours during the health crisis. Japan’s central government aims to maintain the income levels of workers in these industries.

It’s being said that the subsidy program will cover 3 million companies and about 10 million employees.

The employment adjustment subsidy has not proved popular so far, partly owing to its complicated paperwork and the roughly one-month wait for processing applications. In the current crisis, just 985 companies had applied in the two months leading up to April 17.