The Government has sent out a proposal to extend the maximum period for daily unemployment benefits and the temporary layoff period until 1 July 2021.
Daily unemployment benefits
The Government has previously extended the maximum period for daily unemployment benefits. This temporary scheme was terminated on 1 November 2020. The assessment at the end of the period was that the infection pressure and job opportunities were significantly improving. The Government did therefore not propose to extend the maximum period for daily unemployment benefits. The situation has changed after the assessment was made. The Government therefore proposes to extend the maximum period for unemployment benefits again.
The proposal applies to:
- Persons who after 31 October 2020 have used up their right to daily unemployment benefits, and who are unemployed or temporarily laid off when the proposal is implemented.
- Temporarily laid off and unemployed persons who use up the right to daily unemployment benefits before 1 July 2021.
The Government proposes that persons, who after 31 October 2020 have used up their right to daily unemployment benefits, should be given the opportunity to apply for daily unemployment benefits again, but this will not be possible until the regulations have been adopted.
The temporary layoff period
Following an assessment of the current Covid-19 situation, the Government has proposed extending the temporary layoff period to 1 July 2021. The temporary layoff period has previously been extended from 26 to 52 weeks. If the proposal is adopted, companies will have the opportunity to have temporarily laid-off employees until 1 July 2021. This even if the employees will be laid off for more than 52 weeks.
The Government's assessment is that companies still have a temporary reduction in the need for staffing, but that there will be good opportunities to bring the laid-off workers back to work later.
