NOW 2.0: The (new) conditions you, as an entrepreneur, have to meet

The Emergency bridging measure for sustained employment (NOW) will be extended for the period from June up to and including September. Several conditions and rules will change. For instance, the dismissal fine will lapse and a higher wage bill of the employee will be assumed.

Emergency bridging measure for sustained employment (NOW)

Background and purpose

• One-off extension of the compensation of up to 90% of the wage costs in the period from June up to and including September 2020.

Application and decision

• It is expected that you can apply for the compensation at the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) from 6 July up to and including 30 September 2020.
• Both entrepreneurs who already have invoked NOW 1.0 and entrepreneurs who are invoking NOW for the first time can submit an application.
• The UWV will issue a decision within 13 weeks upon receipt of the full application.
• You will first receive an advance of 80%. When the compensation has ended, you will have to prove your actual drop in turnover. If you receive a compensation of € 125,000 or more, or an advance of € 100,000 or more, you will be required to provide an audit opinion.
• The name of the applicant, including the advances granted and compensation determined, will be published on the UWV website without an opinion having to be asked first.

Conditions

• At least 20% (group) loss in turnover from 1 June 2020.
• You have to continue to pay employees 100% of their wages.
• You have to inform the works council/employee representative body/staff meeting about the NOW compensation received.
• You do not submit applications for dismissal for commercial reasons during the time you receive the compensation, otherwise a correction will be made to the subsidy with 100% of the amount of the wage bill of the employees for whom dismissal was requested. The additional fine of 50% of the wage bill of these employees, which was claimed in NOW 1.0, will lapse.
• If you do make employees redundant during the time you receive the NOW compensation, you must comply with the obligations of the Collective Redundancy Notification Act in the event of a dismissal of 20 employees or more. Furthermore, a correction will be made to the subsidy and you will owe a fine of 5% of the eventual subsidy. This fine is not payable if you make dismissals with the consent of the trade unions or after mediation by a committee of the Labour Foundation.
• If you receive a compensation of € 125,000 or more, or an advance of € 100,000 or more, you may not make a profit distribution to shareholders for this year, or pay bonuses to the board and management (only to ‘regular’ employees), or buy own shares.
• You have to encourage your employees to undergo training and retraining (effort obligation).

Calculation of wage costs and loss in turnover

• The reference month for the wage bill will be March 2020 (instead of January 2020), so that any thirteenth month is ‘filtered’ out of the wage bill and seasonal businesses are taken into account.
• The wage costs will be calculated as follows: wage costs x 3 x 1.4. The basis is the wage for social insurance purposes, where the UWV adds a fixed 40% (instead of 30% in NOW 1.0) for, inter alia, holiday pay, pension contributions and other employer costs.
• The compensation is calculated as follows: percentage of drop in turnover x 90% x wage bill.
• The maximum wage per employee is € 9,538. This equals twice the maximum daily wage per month. Salaries above this amount will not be compensated.

More information

Do you have any questions about NOW 2.0 or any other government support measures? Please contact our coronavirus crisis team:

• Reinier W.L. Russell, LL.M. (reinier.russell@russell.nl)
• Jan Dop, LL.M. (jan.dop@russell.nl)

You can call us at 020 – 301 55 55 or ask your questions using the form below: