On March 31, 2020, Prof. Ruben Houweling, professor of Labour Law at Erasmus School of Law, gave a webinar out of Switzerland regarding the Temporary Emergency Bridging Measure for the preservation of Employment (NOW) with more than 1800 participants.
The scholars of Erasmus School of Law are not idle during the corona crisis, and Prof. Ruben Houweling all too well demonstrates this. During a holiday with his family, he got stuck in Switzerland when a lockdown was announced during his stay. Labour law is not standing still during these extraordinary times, and neither is Professor Houweling.
Prof. Houweling is an expert in the field of labour law and is flooded by labour law issues from all sides during the corona crisis. In Switzerland, he, therefore, conceived the idea of organizing a webinar on one of the most critical challenges for employers at the moment: the Temporary Emergency Bridging Measure to preserve Employment (in Dutch: NOW).
Successful collaboration: 1800 participants
The webinar was designed in a short time together with Mr Astrid Helstone (labour lawyer) and prof. Evert Verhulp (University of Amsterdam). With the help of Prof. Sigrid Hemels, he found Mr Ton Mertens willing to participate as an expert in income taxes. With this webinar, Prof. Houweling tries to share his knowledge of labour law with the rest of the Netherlands and is thus contributing to serving the public good. And it may be said with success… Over 1800 participants took part in the webinar, and over 448 substantive questions were asked to the speakers via the chat function. In short, a second webinar will follow very quickly to provide all participants with an answer!
About the NOW
The NOW compensates employers with salaried staff who expect a turnover loss of 20% or more due to an extraordinary event, such as the coronavirus. Through the NOW, an employer can receive a substantial contribution to the wage costs necessary to continue paying employees. The emergency measure will take effect on March 31, replacing the Working Time Reduction (Wtv), the government's earlier bill to accommodate entrepreneurs in the Netherlands.
