Member Article

Following the renewal of the state of emergency, Decree 3-A/2021 of14January of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, determines the closure of various types of establishments. Inthiscontext, the employment support measures were amended by Decree-Law 6-C/2021 of 15 January and Decree-Law 6-E/2021 of15January, which we summarised below.

1. Framework

At the beginning of the pandemic, the Scheme for Granting Support to Workers and Companies Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic was created under Decree-Law No. 10-G/2020 of 26 March 1. This scheme essentially provided for what is known as the simplified layoff.

Subsequently, the Extraordinary Support for the Progressive Resumption of Activity in Companies in Situations of Business Crisis (“Progressive Resumption Support”) was created and approved by Decree-Law 46-A/2020 of 30 July, and it is expected to be in force until 31 December 2020.

Provision was also made for the Employment Support and Extraordinary Incentive for Normalisation of Business Activity scheme, which was approved by Decree-Law 27-B/2020 of 19 June (“Support for Normalisation”).

A temporary reduction in normal working hours or a suspension of the employment contract due to the employer are also in force. These are provided for in articles 298 et seq. of the Labour Code and are normally referred to as a layoff.

2. The simplified layoff

The possibility of using this support in the event of the total or partial closure of the business or establishment by a legislative or administrative decision is maintained. The law provides that businesses covered by Progressive Resumption Support may give up that support in order to begin a simplified layoff.

Under this scheme, workers are entitled to 100% of their regular salary up to three times the RMMG (minimum guaranteed monthly wage) and the amount is paid in full by Social Security 4. Inaddition, employers are entitled to a full exemption from paying the social security contributions regarding employees and members of statutory bodies while the layoff is in force.

3. Layoffs after 1 January 2021

If companies are unable to make use of the simplified layoff because they do not meet the conditions, they can make use of the layoff scheme provided for in the Labour Code. In this case, if the process begins after 01 January 2021 and is justified by reasons arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, the remuneration due to workers and the social security support will be the same as those provided for the simplified lay-off.

4. Progressive Resumption Support

This scheme applies to companies in a business crisis situation, which is defined as a fall in turnover of 25% or more, ensuring the possibility of a temporary reduction in normal working hours (NWH) for all or some of their employees, as follows:

to read the full article, please see here