Døgnville’s general manager Tarje Haakstad shows around the burger chain’s airy and modern premises opposite the Opera in Oslo. Finally, customers are back after two tough corona years. During the winter’s coronation shutdown, Døgnvill kept all its employees in work, because the state promised to take a significant part of the wage costs through the wage subsidy scheme. But there was only one problem: the scheme was not adapted to companies that pay wages in arrears – as Døgnvill does. CRITICAL: General manager Tarje Haakstad in the burger chain Døgnvill hopes that the practice of the rules in wage support can be adjusted. Photo: Kristian Skårdalsmo / news – We were anticipated this and kept people in work due to the wage support scheme. But in the end here we are left with a large part of the bill, Haakstad says to news. – Had we known that this was practiced in this way, we could have navigated differently. We could have taken a holiday or laid off and done this in other ways that had made December, January and February look much nicer than it does now. – How much did you lose? – I dare not think about that. I do not know, but it is clear that there are millions. The burger chain is currently celebrating its tenth anniversary and has five restaurants around the country. Døgnvill has around 150 employees and a turnover of around NOK 130 million. Asks Vedum to sort out The last scheme of wage support came into place before Christmas after pressure from the parties in working life. The point of the scheme was that companies could lay off employees and have a solid chunk of their salary covered by the state. As a result, coronary companies did not have to lay off employees. But many companies have now approached NHO and explained that they fall outside the scheme – many of them because they pay wages in arrears. In a letter to Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp), NHO Reiseliv and NHO Service og Handel write that “it must be possible to award wage support when the case officers’ discretion shows that the company qualifies for support”. Here you can read more about how the rules are interpreted: Why many tourism companies lose wage support The simple explanation for why they fall outside despite meeting the requirement in the law, is that the Tax Administration has narrowed down what they think is the right way to document the requirement, namely with a so-called A-message submitted the same month. This means that they exclude very many in the accommodation and catering industry, who pay salaries afterwards due to varying numbers of shifts per month per employee. The A-notification is a monthly notification from the employer to Nav, Statistics Norway and the Tax Administration about employees’ income, working conditions and withholding tax, as well as employer’s contribution and financial tax for the company. The Tax Administration’s portal does notify A-melding. This serves as a control for the agency and makes it easier to double-check the numbers. The companies that have approached NHO have not submitted an A-report in January – therefore the Tax Administration believes that they should have NOK 0 in support. (Source: NHO) – We remind you that the companies took a significant cost even when they chose to use the wage support scheme, and that tourism companies after the pandemic are in a tight liquidity situation, they write. CONCERNED: Head of NHO tourism, Kristin Krohn Devold. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen – They have expected this money to come, it is said. Kristin Krohn Devold, head of NHO tourism, says companies that kept their employees in work during the closure in December, January and February, risk not receiving wage support, as they were promised. – The reason is that the Ministry of Finance has chosen a method of calculation that does not match the practical way in which tourism pays salaries, she says to news. – This means that they, to put it bluntly, are wise, and that the company has incurred greater expenses than they can afford. In the worst case, it could mean that it threatens the entire economy of the company. It will vary, but the individual companies that are desperate about this, have been very clear in their case. Krohn Devold fears the end of the visa is that the companies that actually laid off all their employees are the ones that come out best, and not the companies that actually tried to keep the employees in work. The Ministry of Finance replies in an e-mail to news that it has received the letter from NHO, but will not comment on the matter until the letter has been answered. CLARIFICATION: Minister of Finance Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) has received a letter from dissatisfied tourism companies. Photo: Kristian Skårdalsmo The Auditors’ Association also believes that there is a need for a change in practice – and has expressed this in a letter to Vedum. – The auditors’ association believes that employers who pay salaries in arrears for all periods except December, should also be able to receive salary support for January, the association writes on its website. The association believes that the current practice is contrary to the intention of the scheme. – The precondition when the wage support scheme was launched was that compensation should be provided for wage costs for December, January and February for those who did not lay off employees despite a large drop in turnover.
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The burger boss despairs – loses millions – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
