UncategorizedBrief on the digital support platform for companies

The Ministry of Social Affairs has put online a platform to help economic enterprises overcome the repercussions of general lock-down.
According to a press release published on the Ministry’s website, companies will be able to register as from 7 April 2020.

Accessing the Platform:

Only companies can access the platform helpentreprise.social.tn 
In this respect, the Minister of Social Affairs stated that companies whose applications are accepted will be able to provide their employees who are technically unemployed with state aid of 200 dinars.
The amount of this aid will be the same for all employees regardless of their category and the salary they receive.
If the employer is able to pay part of the wages of employees on technical unemployment, the amount of this aid may be cumulated with the part of the wages paid.
This information is, however, awaiting approval by the Government decree which will be issued in the coming days.

Eligibility requirements:

 

• The company concerned must be affiliated to the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale CNSS), or be affiliated to it within a maximum period of one month (from the date of publication of the decree relating to the platform).
• The company’s employees must be registered, and their salaries declared to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) for the fourth quarter of 2019 or the first quarter of 2020
• In the case of non-registered employees, proof of the employment relationship must be provided in accordance with a certificate duly signed by the employer.
• The company must provide proof of the existence of financial difficulties (the list of documents to be supplied has not yet been determined).
• The company must provide proof of a downturn in its business activity.
• The company must submit documents proving the existence of liquid assets and cash flow difficulties.
• Maintaining the jobs of all the company’s staff: i.e. maintaining the employment contracts of indefinite and fixed-term employees which are in force on the date of – the entry into force of the decree – and subject to the conditions laid down by law with regard to the implicit/explicit renewal of employment contracts.
• Temporary suspension of activity must be decided by the competent labor inspection and conciliation service or by the General Directorate of Labor Inspection.
• The company should try to overcome the effects of general lock-down through a bilateral agreement within the company.

Filing of the application:

There are five successive steps in the application process. The employer or his representative must each time enter all the information relating to the company and its employees.
Below are the different steps to follow as they appear on the platform:

• Enter the company’s CNSS registration number.
• Enter information about the company, i.e.
  • Date of affiliation to the CNSS
  • Company name
  • Head Office
  • Address
  • Governorates of activity
  • Activity
  • Unique identifier of the company in the RNE (Registre National des Entreprises)
  • Tax number
  • Phone
  • Fax
  • E-Mail
  • Total number of employees
  • Number of permanent employees
  • Number of contract employees
• Enter company legal representative information:
  • Surname/ first name
  • Identity document
  • Date of issue
  • Place of issue
  • Father’s name
  • Telephone/ mobile
• Add the list of the company’s employees, specifying for each employee the following information:
  • Surname/First name
  • Recruiting date,
  • Type of contract,
  • CNSS number,
  • Number of the national identity card (CIN)
  • Net pay
  • GNI
  • Post (Position in the company)
  • Mobile
• The employer must answer these two questions:
  Have you had any bilateral agreements with employee representatives? No/Yes If yes, please tick one of the following possibilities:
  • Reduce working hours by keeping a percentage of pay
  • Reduce working hours by keeping a percentage of pay
  • Deduct the total days off from annual leave
  • To settle all annual leave in advance with the agreement of a subsequent recovery
  • Termination of temporary activities while retaining all salary
  • Termination of temporary activities while keeping a percentage of the remuneration
  • Have you had bilateral agreements directly with employees (if no representatives are present)? (No/Yes)
  
  
  He or she must then tick one of the five possibilities open to him or her, specifying the period covered by the measure:
  • Total definitive cessation of activities while retaining all remuneration
  • Temporary total cessation of activities while keeping all the remuneration
  • Temporary cessation of activities while retaining a percentage of the remuneration
  • Temporary partial cessation of activities while retaining all remuneration
  • Temporary partial cessation of activities while retaining a percentage of the remuneration

the employer must submit a list of the documents requested (this list depends, normally, on the assumptions ticked in the previous point).

Approval of the application:

The employer must ensure that the information entered is correct, unless, the application will be rejected.

Handling of the file:

According to the statement of the Minister of Social Affairs, the application will be processed within a maximum of 19 days. It should be noted that, although companies will be able to access the platform from 7 April, the deadline for processing the request will only start to run from the date of enactment of the decree. In case of acceptance, the involved employees will receive a postal or bank transfer or an electronic money order.