MWith the new temporary Emergency Measure Bridging Employment (NOW), you as an employer can apply for an allowance from UWV, so that you can continue to pay the wages of your employees with a permanent and flexible contract. The employees concerned must be subject to insurance in the Netherlands. This arrangement replaces the short-time working.
How do I apply for NOW?
You can apply via uwv.nl† The NOW provides an allowance for wage costs over the months of March, April and May 2020† This does not have to be the period with the largest drop in sales. You can therefore indicate over which quarterly period you want to calculate the expected decrease in turnover: March-April-May 2020, April-May-June 2020 or May-June-July 2020. This application does not require eHerkenning or any other form of authentication and authorization; You can apply with your payroll tax number.
What are the conditions?
To make use of the emergency measure, the following conditions apply to you as an employer:
- You expect or have at least a 20% loss of revenue since March 1, 2020.
- You may not request dismissal for business economic reasons for your employees during the period for which you receive the allowance.
- You have a best efforts obligation to continue to pay the wages to all employees.
When calculating the advance, UWV looks at:
- the wage costs of January 2020 according to your statement to the tax authorities (total wage bill);
- the expected percentage loss of revenue that you specified in your NOW application.
UWV multiplies the total wage bill by the percentage of the expected loss of turnover. We multiply this amount by a factor of 1,3 for additional costs and charges, such as employer's premiums, pension contributions and holiday pay. The allowance is 90% of this amount. The total advance is 80% of the allowance. The total advance is paid monthly in three instalments. The UWV will transfer the first payment to you within four weeks.
Questions?
Call 088-8982004
Other questions or more information about (emergency) government regulations during the corona crisis? Contact George Gall of Pauline Frank of Work in Sight.
Further important information:
- A separate application must be made for each payroll tax number.
- The NOW allowance is also for wage costs of employees for whom you have no obligation to continue to pay wages, such as employees with an on-call contract. Temporary workers are employed by the temporary employment agency. This temporary employment agency can submit a NOW application itself
for these employees. This also applies to payroll employers. This way, these companies can also use this period
bridge without laying off staff. - In principle, a director-major shareholder is not eligible for an allowance.
- The allowances that you pay to trainees and students who follow a Vocational Guidance Learning Path are also included in the calculation of the NOW allowance.
- If your company has since been declared bankrupt, you can no longer make use of the NOW allowance.
- The wage bill of sick employees for whom an obligation to pay wages applies is also included.
- It will be decided before 1 June 2020 whether and under what conditions the emergency measure will be extended.
- The scheme also applies to starting entrepreneurs, provided that at least one month of turnover has already been generated before 1 March 2020.
- You can outsource your employees to another employer. If this is done by way of non-profit assistance (maximum against wage costs and a small surcharge), then this is referred to as collegiate lending and this has no consequences for the NOW application.
- Afterwards, it is definitively determined what the actual decrease in turnover and what the actual wage bill was and, if necessary, a supplementary payment or recovery takes place.