Court rules that new restaurant owners should have received subsidies during pandemic

A starting entrepreneur who opened a restaurant in May 2020 should have had access to the wage cost subsidy during the coronavirus pandemic. The Administrative High Court (CRvB), one of the highest administrative courts in the country, ruled. The CRvB recognized that the subsidy arrangement had to be developed quickly, but as the pandemic continued more attention should have been given to the "adverse financial implications" for starters.

Because the businesses had not made any profits prior to the pandemic that broke out at the start of the year, no subsidy could be calculated for them. However, the business owners had hired staff, and the administrative court think it was clear that the entrepreneurs "were seriously affected" by the measures to combat the coronavirus.

The CRvB also understood that the Cabinet had to devise an emergency arrangement at short notice to give the agency responsible for the applications, the UWV, the time to work on the large number of applications. Too many exceptions to that rule would have only complicated the process further. "The fact that starting entrepreneurs were left out was deliberately taken for granted by the minister at the start of the pandemic," the CRvB stated.

At the core of this case is the third application period of the NOW arrangement, which is from October to January. That arrangement was developed when you could no longer consider the situation an "acute emergency," according to the CRvB. Still, the crisis continued with big financial implications for the business owners. Over time, the consequences for starters should have outweighed the feasibility of the scheme, but that did not happen, the court believes.

The CRVB is now ordering the UWV to make another decision regarding the wage cost subsidy applications made by the entrepreneurs. The UWV is no longer allowed to consider the starting date while doing so.

The administrative high court indicated to the UWV that turnovers from the third quarter can be used to calculate the fees for the NOW arrangement for the subsequent period.