Reduced form of redundancy fine in new aid package Inland

According to sources from The Hague, this is the result of a long day of negotiations between unions, employers and Minister Koolmees (Social Affairs). The dismissal fine as it was will be dismissed. But with larger companies there is still a financial stick behind the door. If they want to fire more than 20 people, they must do so in consultation with the unions. If they don’t, a financial penalty will follow. In the event of layoffs of less than twenty, the fine will be taken off the table.

The new package also meets the requirements of the employers. In the plan that was presented last week, they could receive up to 20,000 euros in compensation for their fixed costs. But that is now being increased to 50,000 euros, insiders say.

The parties have also agreed that entrepreneurs can use the second emergency package for four months instead of three. In addition to June, July and August, the package will also apply to September.

Head-on collision for fine

Great Tit clashed head-on with the unions last week after keeping his leg stiff around the layoff fine. Companies that fired people in recent months while receiving wage compensation from the government had to pay back support for the fired people’s wages, plus 50 percent of that amount.

That fine of 50 percent was no longer sustainable, according to Koolmees, now that the crisis has deepened and lasts longer. Businesses need to be able to reorganize, the D66 minister said, and a layoff fine no longer matched that. He feared that because of the dismissal fine, companies would no longer apply for wage support and would go bankrupt.

Asscher

But with that, Great Tit smashed the unions and most of the opposition against him, proclaiming his desire for broad support. According to insiders, the compromise stipulates that the fine amounts to 5 percent of the entire wage support that the company receives.

PvdA group leader Asscher, in particular, recently threw his butt against the groyne. He said he was talking to De Telegraaf against a support package in which the dismissal fine was completely off the table. On Thursday, the House will debate with Koolmees, among others, about the new emergency package and it will have to become clear whether the cabinet will still receive the desired broad support.

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