Decree-Law number 98/2020 of the 18th November was published, effective from 19th November, which proceeds to make an exceptional and temporary change to the rules of sequentiality in the support to the maintenance of employment posts, namely in respect to the extraordinary stimulus to the normalisation of business activity and to the extraordinary support to the progressive resumption of activity in businesses in a state of crisis.

In the terms of this law, that comes into effect on 19th November, the employer that up until 31st October 2020 had requested the extraordinary stimulus to the normalisation of activity may, exceptionally, until 31st December 2020, withdraw from this support and request extraordinary support to the progressive resumption of activity, without needing to return any amounts received in relation to this. At the same time, the law establishes that the employer that drew upon the application of measures of reduction or suspension covered in the Labour Code (known as “lay-off”) and that intends to gain access to the extraordinary support to the progressive resumption of activity, is not subject to the timeframe that limits the recourse to measures of reduction or suspension to which article 298-A of the Labour Code alludes, that is, they do not have to wait for the lapse of half of the period that “lay off” lasted for, something about which up until now there wasn’t a clear position in the legislation.

It’s highlighted that up until the present day, the employer that drew upon the extraordinary stimulus to the normalisation of business activity couldn’t, in the 60 days subsequent to the end of the extraordinary stimulus, make use of the extraordinary support to the progressive resumption of activity, having to always respect the timeframe established in article 298-A of the Labour Code.

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