As of today, 6 May 2021, the application period for the (provisionally?) final tranche of the NOW has opened. The application period ends on 30 June 2021.
Second quarter of 2021
This fifth and (for the time being?) final tranche is also referred to as NOW 3.3. The application covers the subsidy period of April, May and June 2021. The grant amounts to 85% of wage costs, but is subject to the loss of turnover incurred. If the loss of turnover is less than 20%, the grant will not be paid out.
Following the application, an advance payment of 100% of the expected grant amount will be made. This advance payment will be paid in (up to) three instalments. The sooner the grant is applied for, the sooner it will be paid out.
Reference period
The loss of turnover is calculated as one-quarter of the annual turnover in 2019. The reference period consists of the months of April, May and June 2021, but you may opt for May, June and July 20221 or June, July and August 2021. The reference period must correspond to that of the previous tranche of the NOW scheme.
Wage bill
Labour costs are calculated on the basis of the total wage bill for June 2020. This total wage bill is increased by 40% to cover employers’ contributions (including pension contributions).
To be eligible for the subsidy, employers must continue to pay their employees’ wages.
Best-Efforts Obligations
The application for the NOW grant is subject to certain obligations:
- staff must be informed about the NOW application;
- employees should be encouraged through career guidance or training;
- assisting the employee in finding alternative employment, if there is an intention to terminate or not to renew the employment contract;
- In the event of a request for redundancy on commercial grounds, the UWV must be contacted for support in finding alternative employment.
Adoption
Applicants for the NOW grant must submit a request for the grant to be finalised. If they fail to do so, the grant will be set at zero.
The deadlines for these applications are now very generous. Applications for NOW-1 can be submitted up to and including 31 October 2021. For NOW-2 and -3, the deadlines are 5 January 2022 and 26 June 2022 respectively. And for applications to determine eligibility for NOW-4 and -5, business owners have until 23 October 2022.
Businesses expecting a supplementary payment following the finalisation of the grant would be well advised to submit a request for finalisation as soon as possible. Those required to repay the grant may wish to postpone their request for finalisation.