Government measures in key jurisdictions 5th edition - Flipbook - Page 99
Norway
E. State Compensation Scheme
The government passed a State Compensation Scheme under which companies
which have suffered a minimum of 30% reduction in revenues due to the Covid-19
outbreak can apply for state compensation.
On 29 May 2020 the government announced that the State Compensation
Scheme was extended until 31 August 2020. However, this compensation scheme
was initially managed by the Norwegian Tax Administration, but has been
discontinued and replaced by a new compensation scheme from 1 September 2020
managed by the Brønnøysund Registers (Nw Brønnøysundregistrene), which is based
on the previous scheme. The new scheme will apply until 30 April 2021. Any grants
under the scheme will be calculated for two months at a time. Further extensions
must be approved by the ESA. Under the State Compensation Scheme companies
experiencing a minimum of 30% reduction in revenues, can apply to the state for the
state to cover a portion of the company's overhead expenses. Businesses
experiencing a minimum of 30% revenue reduction are eligible for state
compensation for up to 70% of their overhead expense in September and October
(2020), up to 85% for November and December (2020) and 80% for January,
February, March and April (2021).
The deadline to apply for compensation for the first two periods
(September/October 2020 and November/December 2020) is 14 March 2021, which
the deadline for January and February is 14 May 2021.
F. Financial aid for entrepreneurs and start-ups
On the 27 March 2020, the government proposed a NOK 2.5 billion financial aid
package to entrepreneurs and start-ups, pursuant to which entrepreneurs and startups are eligible for various loans, financial subsidies and investment capital.
On 29 January 2021, the government proposed to grant an additional NOK 500
million to entrepreneurs and start-ups.
Employment
What financial
support is
the government
providing
to businesses and to
individuals on
employment issues?
When Covid-19 forced Norway to shut down in March 2020, several measures were
implemented by the Norwegian government to help business survive, and to protect
jobs. As the labour market is better today, some of the temporary schemes were
discontinued on 1 November 2020 and 31 December 2020, while other schemes
were extended. An important change from 1 November 2020 was that the temporary
lay-off period was extended from 26 to 52 weeks. The extended period for temporary
lay-offs allows companies to hold onto employees it expects can be taken back to
work when the pandemic is over, and avoid that key employees, important skills and
expertise are lost.
The employer must paid the laid-off employee’s salary for the first 10 days of the layoff period. After the first 10 days, the laid-off employees receive unemployed benefits
for 30 weeks from the Norwegian government. Then the employer has to pay the
laid-off employees’ salary for a period of 5 days, before the laid-off employees
receive unemployment benefits for an additional 19 weeks.
On 29 January 2021, the government proposed to reduce the minimum of working
hours to qualify for unemployment benefits from 50% to 40% of the full-time
equivalent, and reduce the threshold for minimum income to qualify for
unemployment benefits from 1,5 G to 0,75 G.
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