Background information

The measure was originally introduced due to the strong increase in requests for temporary unemployment for the national economy as way to alleviate pressure on the institutions that were tasked with organising and distributing unemployment benefits, both the National Employment Office (NEO) and the trade unions (that also play an important role in paying out the unemployment benefits). The use of temporary unemployment means that the employers no longer have to pay the wages of their employees (the cost is transferred to the government through the unemployment benefit), thereby enabling them to reduce their costs and enhances their ability to better cope with the period of inactivity of the business.

The measures makes the procedure shorter and more simplified for employees in order to make sure that they receive their unemployment benefit as fast as possible.

Content of measure

The system will be extended further as well as adapted (starting September 2020). From that date, two systems will apply (one for companies or sectors that are considered to be very badly hit and one for companies that are less impacted but still require the measure):

1. Companies that are 'particularly badly' affected by the corona crisis can continue to use the system of temporary unemployment due to force majeure by COVID-19 until the end of this year. They must demonstrate that in the second quarter (April-June 2020), 20% of the total number of working days declared were days of temporary unemployment (force majeure due to COVID-19 or economic unemployment).
2. There are also sectors that have been recognised as 'particularly hard hit' . The employer should do nothing for the taxi sector, the audiovisual sector, the hotel industry, entertainment companies, the socio-cultural sector, the tourist attractions sector. These are automatically recognised.
3. For a number of sectors, the employer must file a declaration with the national unemployment offices and it only applies to certain activities (i.e. not automatically to all employees of the joint committee).
4. All other companies can make use of the classic systems of temporary unemployment that already existed before the corona crisis: 'temporary unemployment for reasons of force majeure' and 'temporary unemployment for economic reasons' . Each system has its own criteria and formalities which may also deviate from the arrangements for the corona crisis. For this group the 'normal' rules become applicable again.

Use of measure

Data is not yet available; as the measure (extension) is still very recent.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment Workers in non-standard forms of employment	Sector specific set of companies Other businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Trade unions Employers' organisations Company / Companies	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative	Agreed (outcome) incl. social partner initiative
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

The social partners are involved in the measure, as the trade unions have a big responsibility in paying out unemployment benefits. On the other hand the sectoral joint committees monitor and discuss the measures further.

Views and reactions

No public views stated at the time of writing specifically for the extension/adaption.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 26 August 2020: Tijdelijke werkloosheid verlengd voor zwaar getroffen sectoren. (www.tijd.be)
• 08 September 2020: Tijdelijke werkloosheid wegens overmacht (www.vlaio.be)
• 01 October 2020: Changes for employers in October (legalworld.wolterskluwer.be)
• 10 June 2021: Corona: tijdelijke werkloosheid opnieuw verlengd tot 30 september 202 (www.sociare.be)
• 24 September 2021: RVA: Extension of the simplified temporary unemployment procedure coron (www.rva.be)
• 15 March 2022: VBO-FEB (www.vbo-feb.be)