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New incentive to normalize the activity has already received more than 17,000 applications
New incentive to normalize the activity has already received more than 17,000 applications
Applications operationalised by IEFP
The new encouragement of normalisation of activity has so far registered 17,400 applications, said the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, during a hearing in the Committee on Labour and Social Security, in the Assembly of the Republic. This figure "shows the dynamics of these instruments that guarantee the maintenance of jobs", he stressed.
Applications for the new incentive to standardize business activity and simplified support for micro-enterprises, which are operationalized by IEFP, started on the 19th. This measure grants companies financial support per employee covered by the simplified lay-off or support for the gradual recovery in the first quarter of this year, when the new lockdown occurred. The use of this support, in addition to ensuring additional liquidity in the return to activity, prevents dismissals for up to nine months.
Encouraging standardisation has two support modalities: if requested by 31 May, companies may have access to support corresponding to the value of two statutory minimum wages (EUR 1,330) per worker who has been covered by the lay-off or recovery support, paid in stages over six months.
Employers are entitled to a 50% exemption from social security contributions for the first two months.
If applied for after 31 May, the incentive corresponds to a national minimum wage (EUR 665) per worker covered by the lay-off or recovery support, paid in stages over three months.
Simplified support for micro-enterprises provides support of €1,330 (two minimum wages) for companies with fewer than 10 employees that made use of simplified lay-offs or recovery support in 2020.
To this amount can also be added a national minimum wage (up to an overall amount of EUR 1 995), if the company remains in a situation of business crisis in June and has not benefited from the simplified lay-off in 2021.
In all forms of support, dismissals due to collective redundancy, termination of employment or inadaptation are prohibited, and undertakings are required to maintain the level of employment. This obligation applies during the granting of the support and for the next three months, which means that the prohibition of dismissal in the 2 NMS mode lasts for nine months.
In the first edition of the Incentive to Normalize Activity, launched last year, a total of 471 thousand workers and 53 thousand companies were covered, with payments of 440 million euros.
Source: Government Portal
Photo: Tiago Petinga - Lusa