Decree-Law No. 6-C/2021 of 15 January was published, creating simplified support for micro-enterprises.
Simplified support for micro-enterprises to maintain jobs
1. Access Requirements
- The Employer is in a situation of business crisis, i.e., a situation where there is a fall in turnover of 25% or more in the full calendar month immediately preceding the calendar month to which the initial application for support or extension relates, compared with the same month of the previous year or the year 2019, or compared with the monthly average of the six months preceding that period.
- The Employer is a micro-enterprise, i.e., employing less than 10 workers. The number of workers in the company is measured by reference to the month of submission of the application provided for in the in the point 2, up to the maximum number of workers who have benefited from such support.
- The Employing Entity has previously benefited from the support of the simplified lay-off scheme, or from the support for the gradual resumption of activity.
2. Support Grant
The financial support provided for in granted by the IEFP, I.P., upon presentation of an application, and is paid in one instalment per quarter after verification of compliance with the business crisis.
3. Amount of Support
This support will be equivalent to two Guaranteed Minimum Monthly Remuneration i.e., EUR. 1,330.00 (one thousand three hundred and thirty euros) per worker who has been covered in 2020 by the extraordinary support for maintaining an employment contract or by the support for progressive recovery of the companies.
4. Duties for the Employer
The Employer who benefits from this support must comply with the duties provided for in the employment contract, in the law and in the applicable collective labour regulation instrument, as well as:
- i. Maintain, demonstrably, the tax and social security situations regularized.
- ii. Not to terminate, during the period of granting of the support, as well as in the following 60 days, employment contracts grounded on collective dismissal, extinction of working post and dismissal due to inadaptation to the working post, as provided for in articles 359, 367 and 373 of the Labour Code, nor to initiate the respective procedures.
- iii. To maintain, during the period of granting of the support, as well as in the following 60 days, the level of employment observed in the month of the application. For the purposes of verifying the level of employment, employment contracts that end, upon proof by the employer, shall not be counted in the following cases:
- a) Forfeiture under the terms of article 343 of the Portuguese Labour Code.
- b) Denunciation by the employee.
- c) Following dismissal with just cause by the employer.
Situations in which the variation in the level of employment results from the transfer of an establishment, part of an establishment, or equivalent, are not relevant, when at the same time there is a guarantee, legal or conventional, that the transferred employment contracts will be maintained by the purchaser.
The services of the IEFP, I.P., and the Social Security Institute, I.P. (ISS, I. P.), exchange relevant information for the purposes of granting the support provided for in this article.
Violation of the provisions of this article implies the immediate termination of the support and the restitution or payment to IEFP, I.P., of the amounts already received.
The financial support provided for in this article shall be regulated by an ordinance of the member of the Government responsible for the area of work, namely regarding the procedures, conditions, and terms of access.
Note: This measure is not cumulative with the Simplified Lay-off and/or with the Support for Progressive Recovery of the Companies.
Please note that the information contained herein is of generic nature and, therefore, does not exempt the analysis of the specific case, nor the consulting of the official documentation and legislation in force at each moment.