– It feels like a slap in the face after a pandemic, which in itself was a little hell, to learn that this is what the government wants to save money on, says Veslemøy Heyerdahl to news. When the corona came, the 27-year-old was in the process of establishing himself on the job market after several years as a student and part-time employee. Instead, she was laid off. Now the freelance musician is back in a part-time position as a bartender in Oslo, but if she were to be out of work again, she would be hit by the government’s proposed unemployment benefit cuts. – It feels like a punishment, says Heyerdahl and continues: – It seems that they think that you shouldn’t sew pillows under people’s arms, but what kind of pillows are we talking about in that case? Many of us still pay unemployment benefits to Nav in advance. GOT A T-SHIRT: Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) received both a T-shirt and clear demands from the national meeting of the Trade Union on Wednesday. On the left is union leader Mette Nord. Photo: Trond Stenersen / news Prayer to Støre With the new accrual rules for unemployment benefit that the government has proposed in the state budget, she will not benefit from the unemployment benefit base she earned before the pandemic. The reason is that the vesting period is cut from three to one year in the proposal. A HIT IN THE FACE: – It feels like a punishment, says Veslemøy Heyerdahl about the proposal for tightening the unemployment benefit scheme. Photo: Privat/Lene Elisabeth Eide – This goes beyond my colleagues who have worked full-time for many years, even before the pandemic. If the change had entered into force tomorrow and one of them had to receive unemployment benefits, the basis would be calculated based on the income in 2021. Then our workplace was closed for the entire first half. One year is not a very long time to calculate a living wage, says Heyerdahl. She has also described the challenges of the corona pandemic in previous interviews and posts. Will change the rules Day allowance is paid to the unemployed. The payments are currently calculated either on the basis of the income of the last twelve months – or on the average of the last 36 months, if that gives a better result. It is these rules that the government will now change. In the proposal for the state budget, Ap and Sp are in favor of reducing the accrual period for unemployment benefit from three to one year. The proposal entails a saving of just under NOK 200 million. According to the government’s own estimates, the move will mean that around 2,000 new, registered unemployed people will not receive unemployment benefits. In addition, just under 13,000 people will receive less unemployment benefits. Clear message from LO On Wednesday, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) visited the national meeting of LO’s largest confederation, Fagforbundet. There he received a clear order to turn around – and remove the change in the unemployment benefit scheme. – There is a matter that needs to be put in place. We have confidence that it will happen during the negotiations in the Storting. Those who work part-time or have temporary positions will face major challenges if they do not qualify for unemployment benefits, says Mette Nord, leader of the Trade Union, to news. SNU: The trade union and Mette Nord believe the government must reverse and drop the proposal for changes to the unemployment benefit scheme. Photo: Trond Stenersen / news From the lectern, the union leader boasted of “the bravest state budget in several decades”, described it as a change of course in a social democratic direction and highlighted a number of breakthroughs related to changes in the Working Environment Act. But she had not thought that an Labor-led government would repeat a proposal for unemployment benefits cuts, which both LO and Labor strongly criticized when it was put forward by Erna Solberg in 2017: – I was surprised by that. In a large budget, this represents quite a bit of money. So I hope they find room to change this, she says. Rødt’s Mimir Kristjansson has also strongly criticized the government’s proposal. – We thought the time for petty and anti-social cuts would be over when the Conservative Party left the government offices. No one gets closer to work by having their unemployment benefits cut. Cutting benefits is completely crazy medicine to get more people into work, he says. UNSOCIAL: The government’s proposal is unsocial, says Rødt’s Mimir Kristjansson. Photo: Rolv Christian Topdahl / news Snuoperasjon When the Solberg government and then Labor Minister Anniken Hauglie (H) presented their proposal for unemployment benefits cuts in 2017, the Labor Party’s Hadia Tajik was sharp in her criticism: – This is a very serious cut. This means that those who have a weak connection to working life will have an even weaker connection, such as women working part-time and young men on temporary contracts, Tajik said at the time. Facts about the cut proposals * In the proposal for the state budget for 2023, the Støre government proposes the following: Discontinue the long earning period for the minimum income and calculation basis for unemployment benefits In order to be entitled to unemployment benefits, there is currently a requirement for an earned income of at least 1.5 G in the 12 most recently completed calendar months before application, or at least 3 G in the 36 most recently completed calendar months. The period that is used as the basis for the daily allowance basis is the same for the earning of minimum income and the basis for calculation. The government proposes to target the unemployment benefit scheme to a greater extent at people who have a current connection to working life. The government therefore proposes to discontinue the option with a long earning period, so that only income for the last 12 calendar months can be used as a basis. The minimum income requirement will still be 1.5 G. In order to prevent people who have not been or have cared for sick in the last 12 months before applying for unemployment benefit from falling out of the unemployment benefit scheme, it is proposed that sickness, nursing, training and care allowances are included in the earned income that is assessed in connection with the minimum income requirement. The proposal also means that the option to use the average income of the last 36 calendar months when assessing the unemployment benefit period (104 or 52 weeks) will be discontinued, so that only income of at least 2 G in the last 12 months before application results in a long unemployment benefit period (104 weeks). The proposal is estimated to provide savings of around NOK 190 million in 2023 under ch. 2541, item 70 * In the proposal for the state budget for 2018, the Solberg government proposed the following: In order to be entitled to unemployment benefit, there is currently a requirement for an earned income of at least 1.5 times the basic amount in the national insurance for the last completed calendar year, or at least three times the basic amount in the national insurance for the three most recently ended calendar years. By targeting the unemployment benefit scheme at those who have a closer connection to working life, the individual will have stronger incentives for continuous work participation. Through this, the work line is strengthened. From 1 January 2018, it is proposed that the right to use earned income for the last three completed calendar years as a basis will be discontinued. The government proposes that only income from work in the most recently completed calendar year before the time of application should be used as a basis for entitlement to unemployment benefits. In order to protect people who have had longer absences from working life as a result of illness, it is proposed that the income assessed in connection with the minimum income requirement be extended to also include sickness benefits, care benefits as well as training and care benefits etc. The accrual period for the income on the basis of which unemployment benefits are calculated should be equal to the accrual period for the minimum income requirement, and it is also proposed to change so that only income from the most recently completed calendar year is taken into account. This targets the unemployment benefit scheme at people who have a close connection to working life, and who have recently experienced a loss of income. In LO there is talk that this year’s proposed cut in unemployment benefits is reminiscent of last year’s feud over the cut in holiday pay for the unemployed. As is well known, the disappointment was great in LO when Ap and Sp initially did not rectify the Solberg government’s tightening of holiday pay for people who have been on unemployment benefits. The mess was resolved in the budget settlement between Ap, Sp and SV later that year. And now LO demands that the same happens with the restructuring of the unemployment benefit scheme. – Are you going to turn around? – I understand that people react to the fact that the earnings period has changed. The rates are the same, but we are therefore talking about an earning period of one year. We had to make some difficult choices in this budget. And this was one of them, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) to news. DIFFICULT CHOICES: Cutting the unemployment benefit scheme was one of the difficult choices the government had to make in working with the national budget, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. On Wednesday, he addressed the national meeting of the Trade Union. Photo: Trond Stenersen / news He emphasizes that the government has prioritized a package of measures for job creation and has also set aside funds to continue holiday pay for the unemployed. – But measures for job creation are of no help if you are made redundant from the job you already have? What would you say to Veslemøy and others in her situation? – I hope they are able to see the value of the work she does, where Veslemøy works. That we get through this situation in a way that ensures that those who are in work keep it is the most important thing about a tight budget. We must not push interest rate increases and price increases higher, says Støre to news.
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She will be affected by Støre’s unemployment benefit cuts – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
