What socio-legal changes are there in October?

The reimbursement for national travel expenses that private sector employers can pay to their employees tax-free, will be increased. You can read about the new amounts, which apply from 1 October 2021, in this article.

In companies, the obligation to wear a mask will cease from October 1st, and in restaurants and shops, both customers and staff will no longer have to wear a mask from 1 October. However, the regional authorities can still make the wearing of a mask compulsory should the corona situation deteriorate and/or vaccination coverage be too low.

Would you like to know the vaccination coverage in your company? You can ask the occupational physician of your company's internal or external prevention services. The aim is to raise awareness in companies where the vaccination coverage is low, and to convince non-vaccinated people to get vaccinated. To this end, the employer must cooperate with the prevention service and the social partners.

A business trip to the UK? It now requires a bit more preparation work because of Brexit. From 1 October, you will need an international passport to travel to Britain.

Have you been heavily affected by (the effects of) the coronavirus? Then you will still be able to apply for the relaxed temporary unemployment procedure due to force majeure until the end of 2021. You can read more about it in this blog.

Although temporary unemployment is extended, not all corona support measures will remain in place after 30 September. There are also a number of support measures that you will no longer be able to rely on from 1 October. These include various flexibility measures to deploy staff, the increased exempted homework allowance, the use of retirees and the wage limits for garnishments and wage transfers.