Labour will only support coronavirus emergency package if dismissal fine stays

Labor party PvdA will only support the new coronavirus emergency support package for businesses if the government keeps the so-called dismissal fine in tact. Instead, hard-hit businesses can receive extra support in other ways, PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher will propose in a parliamentary debate on the second coronavirus support package on Thursday, a spokesperson for the party said to the Telegraaf.

Asscher will propose that the government compensate 100 percent of hard-hit companies' wage bill, instead of 90 percent. Struggling companies can also be helped by allowing them to give older employees the option of early retirement, according to the PvdA.

The first package to support companies through the coronavirus crisis included the requirement that companies receiving financial support cannot fire their employees. If they do so, they would be fined. The government plans to scrap this requirement from the second aid package, arguing that companies should not be forced to keep employees if this would result in them collapsing and everyone losing their jobs.

Trade unions and opposition parties are against this idea, raising concerns of mass layoffs.