He comes with a crisis prayer to the government.

To prevent Norwegian companies from succumbing to the final phase of the pandemic, the government must extend the compensation scheme as early as January, NHO demands.

– If we are not allowed to maintain a predictable scheme, we run the risk of losing companies. It will cost society in general more than it will cost to provide compensation to companies affected by infection control measures.

This is what NHO Chief Ole Erik Almlid says in a sharp New Year’s warning to the government and Finance Minister Jan Tore Sanner (H).

– We must make sure we have a compensation scheme that saves those who can be saved, he says.

The current general scheme for coronary companies applies until March 1. The core of the scheme is that companies with a sharp drop in turnover compared to 2019 will be covered by fixed and unavoidable costs.

Totally defeated by Sweden and Denmark

“Demanding autumn”

Almlid requests that the current scheme be expanded and still compared to the 2019 billing.

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In a letter to Sanner and Trade and Industry Minister Iselin Nybø (V), NHO writes that the fall of 2020 was demanding for many, “with great uncertainty as to whether a comprehensive compensation scheme would be implemented.”

“Therefore, NHO believes that the government should already decide in January on the continuation of the compensation plan as long as the measures to deal with the pandemic impede normal business operations,” he added. is named.

Almlid notes that the theme of this year’s NHO conference on Thursday is job creation.

– Then, at least, we should not lose the companies that we have, when we come out of this crisis, he tells NTB.

– We do not believe that this will happen suddenly overnight. It will take a long time to vaccinate a sufficient number of people and we must expect infection control measures even after March 1.

– I call it the Black Death

Want adjustments

Above all, there is a need for predictability behind Almlid’s requirements. You also don’t see any financial risk associated with expanding the plan.

– If it turns out that there is no need, the scheme is composed so that nothing is paid. The threshold for a 30 percent drop in billing is at the bottom, he says.

– You should keep your mouth shut

NHO also proposes to adjust the scheme in several ways.

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“The scheme must include infection control costs to stimulate increased activity”it says in the note.

At the same time, the employers’ organization asks the government to include canceled orders in the calculation of billing drops. NHO also believes that a separate scheme should be considered for growth and entrepreneurial companies.

Also, the NHO asks the government to do something about the imbalances in the current scheme. Equal treatment regardless of organizational and financial form and compensation for lost input factors are among the keywords.

Alarm: 35,000 jobs at risk

Sanner promises more

The finance minister says the government is working on various models for more crisis relief after March 1. His promise is that economic measures, both for workers and companies, will last as long as the crisis lasts.

At the same time, Sanner emphasizes that he does not share the view that compensation schemes should last as long as the crisis lasts.

– I do not agree with that, because compensation is a measure that adapts to a situation with strict infection control measures, a situation in which the economy is paralyzed, he told NTB shortly before Christmas.

– When we begin to make infection control measures more flexible, there are other types of measures that are correct and important. So it is the activity that needs to be stimulated.

Sanner offers nervous winter sports resorts and others the following guarantee:

– What they can know is that if we are in a demanding situation of infection control, we will continue with compensatory measures.

In 2021, NOK 40 billion was set aside for temporary corona measures, in addition to a budget that is geared towards creating activity in the economy.