The Government approves an allowance of 440 euros for unemployed people who have no right to subsidies and a moratorium on social security contributions of self-employed workers for 6 months

On Tuesday, the Council of Ministers approved new support measures against coronavirus, especially for the most vulnerable groups. One of them is an extraordinary allowance for people whose “contract has been terminated and do not have the minimum time required to claim unemployment benefit”, as detailed by the Vice-President for Social Affairs and 2030 Agenda, Pablo Iglesias. This benefit will be 440 euros per month and will also be available for domestic workers in the same situation.

The Council of Ministers also approved a moratorium on the payment of social security contributions for the self-employed workers, in addition to other housing measures.

 

Nadia Calviño, Vice-President of Economic Affairs, explained at the press conference following the Council meeting that the executive has adopted the “extension of social security contributions for six months, without interest”. These are the measures that affect freelancers:

 

  • Extension of six months of interest-free social security contributions
  • Possibility for SMEs and the freelancers to defer debts with the Treasury for up to 30,000 euros for six months, with a three-month grace period
  • A moratorium on the payment of contributions – without interest – is provided for the days worked in the month of March
  • Mortgage moratorium is extended, including self-employed workers who have no activity due to the state of alarm or have suffered significant losses

 

What about the March fee they have already charged to self-employed workers?

Government stated that “What we have established today is that a moratorium can be given for the payment of those amounts that correspond to the days worked in the month of March. Those amounts that have already been paid in I understand that the self-employed may request a refund of the part that does not match.”

 

The extraordinary edition of the Official State Bulletin (BOE), published on late Sunday, on the other hand, confirmed that the self-employed can continue to work despite the tightening of the state of alarm to preserve only essential activities as they are outside the scope: they are not employees and would not be eligible for recoverable paid leave. As they would not be able to make up those hours or recover those payments, they must have the right to continue working. However, this new measure does apply to their employees. “Self-employed workers will be able to continue with their activity by proving that they are and that their activity is not suspended by the state of alarm” (referring to the certificate published this Monday in the BOE), explained Nadia Calviño in a press conference.

 

SOURCE: Cadenaser.com

New procedure for granting short-time work in cases of force majeure linked to the Covid-19

THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

What is the short-time work?

Short-time working allows a company to avoid laying off its employees. The employees receive 80% of their salary from the company (this amount cannot be less than the minimum social wage or more than 250% of the minimum social wage). These amounts are fully covered by the Employment Fund.

Conditions that the company must complete

Eligible employees: permanent, fixed-term, apprenticeship, etc.

– be legally established in Luxembourg

– a significant go down on activities/income following the crisis

– undertake not to dismiss any employee for economic reasons

 

In order to maintain employment and, consequently, avoid redundancies, Luxembourg labour law provides that firms may, under certain conditions, have recourse to different short-time working schemes, depending on the nature of the difficulties encountered. This system enables firms to keep their trained employees in employment with skills that are essential to the smooth running of their activities.

The short-time working scheme is therefore one of the major instruments enabling enterprises to cope with the fall in economic activity due to the Covid-19 health crisis.

In view of the current exceptional situation and the repercussions on the life of companies and their employees, the conditions for applying for and obtaining short-time working have been adjusted.

In order to speed up and facilitate the procedure for applying for short-time working in cases of force majeure linked to the Covid-19 crisis, ADEM, in close collaboration with the Secretariat of the Economic Conditions Committee and the State Information Technology Centre (CTIE), has set up a new automated system that enables companies to submit their short-time working applications via an online form at: http://guichet.lu/cocp

This request will have to be made every month

Companies make their request using secure authentication (LuxTrust product (e.g. Token, Smartcard or Signing stick) or electronic identity card). They also have the possibility of having their application submitted by their authorised representative (a trustee), e.g. if they do not have a LuxTrust product. The data collected will be processed automatically by ADEM. The application has been designed to be as simple as possible for companies. As of today, companies must use the form available at the Counter to make their request (requests by mail, e-mail or fax will no longer be accepted).

Applications from companies that can no longer operate following the government decisions of March 2020 will be processed directly by ADEM. Applications from other companies will only be processed after the agreement of the Comité de conjoncture. In both cases and as soon as the request is accepted, ADEM will pay an advance to the companies. This advance corresponds to 80% of the salaries of the staff affected by short-time working and will enable the firms to obtain cash quickly. After the end of the month, the company will be required to submit a detailed statement showing the hours actually worked. On the basis of this statement, ADEM will calculate the sums actually owed by the Employment Fund. In the event of an overpayment, the company will be required to reimburse it.

Which companies are eligible for the new partial unemployment scheme linked to COVID-19?

Companies that can no longer carry out their activities following a government decision are automatically eligible for short-time working without the need for the agreement of the economic conditions committee.

All other companies that have to suffer a drop in activity due to the coronavirus crisis must receive the agreement of the economic development committee in order to be eligible for short-time work.

Temporary employment agencies are also eligible with regard to their employees whose assignment contract continues but who can no longer carry out their activity.

Both types of companies must apply using the same form at the counter.

Which employees are eligible for the new partial unemployment scheme linked to COVID-19?

  • Employees on permanent and fixed-term contracts (the contracts must be in force at the time of the occurrence of the force majeure event)
  • Apprentices in initial and adult learning.

What about companies that have already applied on the basis of the old form?

The applications received by the secretariat of the economic development committee by post, email or fax are being processed. Given the extremely large number of applications received, this processing could take until 3 April 2020.  Companies whose application was incomplete and therefore cannot be processed will be contacted by ADEM.

 

Link: http://guichet.lu/cocp

Source: ADEM

Attached files: 200327_DemandeDeChomagePartiel.pdf

Presentation of the Economic Stabilisation Programme Covid-19 of the Government of Luxembourg, 25/03/2020

Through this link you can find a brief summary of the main measures of this Economic Stabilisation Programme of the Government of Luxembourg due to Covid-19.

Interview to David Córdova and Elena Ortiz, Vinces

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Economic and social measures for companies taken in Luxembourg due to Covid-19

From the Chamber, we want to be with our members and strengthen all our actions and activities, to give an answer to the companies and the self-employed to react to the situation that we are currently facing.

For this reason, the Chamber will periodically publish all the legal, administrative or new measures that are being produced and taken in Luxembourg to inform our members and facilitate the updated information that could be useful for them.

Here you can find the latest economic and social measures for companies in Luxembourg due to Covid-19.

Communication to our members about COVID19

Following the recommendations of the Belgian government, the Luxembourg government and international health recommendations, we inform that the facilities of the Official Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg will remain closed until April 3rd. The safety and health of people must be the absolute priority at this time.

From the Chamber, the necessary measures are being assumed to stop the spread of the epidemic as far as possible with initiatives such as teleworking and telematic meetings, this ensure the continuity of the Chamber‘s services and activities, in addition to the cancellation of our events, meetings and trips.

 For any questions or information, you can contact us through the following email or telephone:

Through our website, as well as our newsletters and social networks, we will keep informing you about the calendar of activities and news of interest to our members.

Best regards,

The Chamber

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Presentation of the services and programmes of the Chamber at the University of Antwerp

On November 19th the Secretary General of the Official Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and Luxembourg, María Catalán, participated in a conference organized by the University of Antwerp.

During the conference, which was aimed at the Spanish students from different university degrees, María Catalán presented the bilateral commerce figures between Belgium and Spain and the role that the Chamber plays for Spanish companies in Belgium.

Moreover, the Secretary General informed students about the projects that the Chamber develops in relation to employment and entrepreneurship, highlighting the European programme Erasmus for Young Entrepreneurs, in which the Chamber acts as local contact point in Belgium and has as objective the promotion of exchanges of experiences between entrepreneurs in Europe.

 

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