Breathing space for hospitality and other closed sectors: postponement of annual holiday pay contribution

Workers (and artists) are not paid when they take their legal holidays. Every year they receive their single and double holiday pay at once, via the holiday fund with whom the employer is affiliated.

The holiday fund is financed by employer contributions to the gross wages of the workers, at 108%. As an employer, you therefore pay an additional contribution of 5.57% per quarter for a worker. In addition to the quarterly contributions, you also pay an annual contribution, invoiced separately by the NSSO. This contribution amounts to 10,27% on the gross wage of your workers and you normally have to pay by 30 Aprilat the latest.

A large number of employers in the hospitality industry and other closed sectors will not be able to pay the annual contribution. That's why they are allowed a deferral of payment.

For employees active in the hospitality sector, it is proposed to postpone the following for 2021, by six months:

• the time when the invoice relating to the annual leave is sent to employers;
• the time at which the invoice amount is due by employers;
• the time at which the invoice amount is to be paid by employers.

Other sectors that are subject to mandatory closure will receive the invoice as usual in April. This time, however, they will have the opportunity to apply for a repayment plan so that they too can benefit from the six-month postponement. The invoice sent to the employer will indicate how the payment plan should be applied for.

With this measure, the government not only wants to protect employment in the affected sectors, this way they also try to prevent a large number of employers from getting into debt. The ongoing health crisis is causing financial difficulties for companies operating in the hospitality industry and other closed sectors.