We inform you that companies that have used lay-offs and wish to continue under this regime next May can already request it from Social Security.

The form is available online (you can access it here) and does not require the company to state any grounds for this extension, although the decree-law that sets the rules for this measure makes it clear that this extension should only be made in an “exceptional” manner.

As you know, requests for access to the simplified lay-off are approved for one month, “exceptionally extendable monthly, up to a maximum of three months,” according to Decree Law 10G/2020 of March 26. In other words, companies that are currently in lay-off and want to continue in this regime next month must now ask Social Security to extend this situation.

In that document, the employer has to indicate:

1. whether it falls under the common lay-off (that is, already foreseen in the Labor Code);
2. How many workers are covered;
3. and that authorizes the consultation of its tax situation.

Therefore, Social Security does not require the presentation of any grounds or reasons for this extension, although the mentioned decree-law stresses that this extension should only happen on an exceptional basis.

Note that the lay-off The simplified procedure is available to companies that fall into one of the following three types of business crisis: a drop in turnover of at least 40% in the previous 30 days compared to the average of the two months preceding the application or compared to the same period in the previous year; total or partial stoppage of activity resulting from interrupted supply chains or suspended orders; or “total or partial closure of the company or establishment” due to the state of emergency.

In the initial request for access to the simplified lay-off, the employer had to indicate what type of business crisis it fell into. The request for extension, on the other hand, does not require any such indication, nor does it allow the employer to change the grounds for requesting to join this scheme.

Finally, in what concerns the communication to the workers, union representatives and workers’ committee (when the latter exist), considering that the initial communication already referred to the possibility of extension of the regime, we advise that the information only be reinforced by sending an email to them (Ex: “…we are by this email to reinforce the information already transmitted previously regarding the simplified lay off, namely in what concerns the request for an extension of the concession of this regime for one more month…”).

You can access the Summary of Decree-Law 10G/2020 here.