Just prior to taking effect on the first of October 2020, the Dutch government’s third COVID‑19 stimulus cum recovery package in response to the Lower House debate on the topic was amended in certain respects, as follows:
- juvenile recipients of social security benefits have been given leeway until the first of July 2021 to earn money from work or collect a reimbursement for volunteer work on the side without the risk of their benefit entitlement being jeopardised. In addition to certain (particularly vulnerable) categories of juveniles having been exempted until the first of July 2021 from the four-week job search term to be mandatorily observed by applicants for social security benefits, municipalities have temporarily been given leeway to refrain from applying the job search term altogether to under-27s;
- employees, the self-employed and job seekers will once more have the option from the first of December 2020 onwards to apply to a career counsellor in order to be given complimentary advice on their career and personal development. A total of 50,000 consulting career paths are available;
- organisations from the first of January 2021 onwards will have recourse to a customised subsidy scheme entitled Sustainable Deployability and Early Retirement, which has been designed to help employees to continue performing their job in sound health until they have reached retirement age, with the option of their taking early retirement where this is necessary.
Dutch version: Derde steunpakket coronacrisis