Interview at Corona today from TV-Gelderland

Our colleague Lonneke Nouwen, a lawyer in labor law and lecturer in labor law at Raboud University in Nijmegen, had the honor of commenting on the NOW ruling and other labor law perils surrounding corona on TV-Gelderland in Corona Today.

The one-and-a-half-meter society

"We are all realistic and expect that after April 28 we will not continue in the way we did before the corona crisis. Hospitality businesses are especially struggling, other businesses e.g. in the manufacturing sector are also seeing a decline in sales. Employers are trying to retain staff, but what can they expect from employees? Can vacations be surrendered, for example?"

The NOW Scheme

"No or less turnover, but still want to retain staff. Reduced working hours were initially applied for over 800 thousand people. Later the NOW scheme replaced this by which up to 90 percent of personnel costs can be claimed back."

Viewer questions regarding corona

A number of viewer questions were posed to Lonneke during the broadcast:

• "I'm afraid of getting infected and I don't dare go to work anymore, can I stay home?"
• "Temporary workers lost their jobs first, what rights do they have?"
• "Should cab drivers do their jobs if they fear getting infected?"
• "Suppose I have a cough, I may not work. Should I then take vacation days or can I call in sick?"
• "May in withdraw my previously requested leave now that I cannot go on vacation abroad?"
• "Suppose I am a lung patient, but I still have to come to work. Can I later hold my employer liable if I get sick?"

Answers to these questions can be seen in this episode.