(Newswire.net — February 8, 2021) — The global pandemic has set new living standards, which may not be very appealing to us, but we all have to follow, in order to maintain health and the wellbeing of ourselves as well as the beloved ones. Back at the beginning of 2020, the novel coronavirus shook the world with the contagiousness and the death rates. The world was simply not ready for it. no one knew how to handle the pandemic and at the moment there was no hope or relief in anything at all.
The first wave of the pandemic began in March of 2020 and left many people infected, dead, scared, and hopeless. The urge for the cure and vaccine was huge, but the relief is still far away. The world is going through a global social and economic crisis, but we all are learning how to survive and how to get back to where we were.
The global pandemic did not only leave a footprint on our health state but on the moral as well as the economic state. Because of the strict guidelines, the majority of the businesses had to close or had to narrow their operations. The gathering spots all over the globe have been closed and people are recommended to stay home unless there is an urgent and emergency matter of going out.
With the regulations being imposed by the governments, companies have a little choice, to close down completely or to somehow oversit the hard period. Though in both cases, the victims are the employees of the companies, who are on furlough or left unemployed. The unemployment rate increased drastically all over the world. With the massive number of venues and businesses going bankrupt there is no possibility to maintain employees.
Norway extends furlough
Some countries managed the crisis and the critical situation better than others, and as far as it seems the developed countries are the ones who managed to maintain more positivity for society. Norway is a clear example. Unfortunately, due to the regulations and the lockdown period, the majority of businesses had to close for some time, while others had to close permanently. With this in mind, some businesses had to go online and maintain their employees, while others offered furlough and followed the scheme.
Some of the businesses that managed to survive and go online include logistics, banking, and gambling. The traditional casinos are now closed and are waiting for the moment to shine again somewhere in the second half of the year. They were the ones who offered the furlough for the employees at the front row. According to the Norskcasino.Online less than 5% of the casino employees have lost their jobs. The rest of them are on furlough receiving the monthly salary. Though some of them simply moved to the online gambling industry, the demand for employees in online gaming increased because of the number of players.
The furlough scheme is followed not only by the casinos but by different businesses. The scheme was introduced last year due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the first wave ended much thought that the world is slowly getting back on the road, but the second wave of the pandemic is on and we all got back to where we started back in March.
Everything is closed once again and people are seeking further hope. The Minister of Labour, Henrik Asheim made an announcement regarding updating the scheme. He said that the government and the absolute majority in the parliament will offer the period employed can be furloughed until the 1st of July.
In any other case, they had to be excluded from the scheme because previously the legal furlough period was 26 weeks. The period was extended once during the first wave of the pandemic, and now it is the second time the parliament decided to exceed it for more than 52 weeks. This means that people who got furlough in March 2020, will still get back their jobs in July.
The minister also added that the law has been introduced to ensure that a larger number of people on temporary leave who will see their jobs returning by the summer, will not be excluded from the system and will not be left unemployed in the hard situation of the global pandemic.
The furlough scheme
Approximately 61,000 workers were registered as furloughed in December, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration NAV. The expanded scheme was introduced in August and came into effect on November 1st. It was due to come to an end at the end of April.
The official statement has been made by the Prime Minister Erna Solberg, who told the national agency that the government did not wish to expand it beyond 52 weeks, but that they were prepared to negotiate with the opposition. In the end, the opposition parties including Progress Party, Labour Party, Center Party, and the Socialist Left Party all decided to join forces in Parliament and demand the scheme to be extended. This gave them the majority of seats in the parliament.
Deputy Leader of Frp, Sylvi Listhaug, is happy the government has heeded their demands. “This is a step in the right direction,” she said in his statement. “When they see that a majority in Parliament wants an extension, they have no choice but to follow up on their end,” she added.
During the furlough scheme, the employees still receive their salary. The scheme was first introduced in April and allowed the companies to save places for the employees for 26 weeks. The government first exceeded it in August and the changes were implemented on November 1st and are scheduled to last until the 30th of June. According to the changes, all workers should return their employee status even if it has been a year since they lost the opportunity to work.