Staff at the Department of Social Insurance will work from home until April 6, the Government announced today.

A spokeswoman said: “The reception cashiers’ area will be closed to the public during this time.

“A skeleton crew of staff will be present in the office to answer queries by telephone.”

The Officer of the Tax Commissioner will also be closed, except for the receipt of documents in its drop-off box.

A spokeswoman for the Tax Commissioner said: “We encourage all taxpayers to make payments through e-tax or through online banking.”

She added tax officials would assist people who needed help to set up electronic payment services.

The social services department issued guidelines to be in place until April 6:

Pension Benefits:

• All new applications received as of March 18 are scheduled to be paid on April 15

• Any new applications received after March 18 will be processed and paid within the usual 30 to 60-day window

• Current beneficiaries will be paid their monthly pension benefit on the fifteenth day of the month as per usual

War Veteran Benefits:

• Current beneficiaries will be paid their March pension by the end of this month

• Current beneficiaries will be paid their April pension by the end of April

• Caregiving reimbursement payments received as of March 18 will be paid in April

• Caregiving reimbursement payments received after March 18 will be processed and paid within the standard 30-day window

Paying Social Insurance Contributions:

• Payments made by direct deposit from a local bank will be processed as usual

• No cash or credit card payments will be taken in the reception area until April 6

• Electronic employee adjustments will be processed in the usual fashion.

For more information, call 294-9242 on Tuesdays and Thursdays or e-mail the following addresses:

For contributions: SIContributions@gov.bm

For benefits: SIBenefits@gov.bm

For compliance related business: SICompliance@gov.bm

To register for e-tax, visit the Government website or www.etax.gov.bm.