In Husfliden, it is currently high season for the delivery of national costumes. Work is now in full swing to avoid the bunad crisis.
It is challenging, as the bunads are tailored and must be tried in close contact with the seamstress.
– We have been very clear that the redundancy rules we had last spring, they must return. When we are told in the evening to close down the next day, then the big costs run, says CEO Per Willy Næsseth of Norsk flid Husfliden to NTB.
– Now we have had an emergency meeting with several of the stores that had to close. We try to be as creative as we can with door-to-door delivery and home delivery to people and agreements with customers. We work as obsessed with a large digital retail project, says Næsseth.
He fears that stores will collapse as a result of the new closure.
– That is, of course, what we fear, the survival of the store and securing jobs, that’s all it’s about now, says Næsseth.
– Should have been in place
NTB has spoken with the CEOs of Husfliden, Kremmerhuset and the electronics chain Elon. All three demand measures from the government, such as the time the employer pays wages during redundancies, is cut to two days.
They believe this should have been in place even before Viken was closed down on a few hours’ notice on Monday night.
– I think so, then I understand that you have to act fast. Our hope is that something will come back that has retroactive effect. Then we accept it, of course, but if not, some of our stores will have big problems, says CEO Asle Bjerkebakke in Elon to NTB.
Virke estimates to NTB that up to 40,000 employees in their companies will be affected, while NHO states that their companies have 250,000 employees in the relevant areas, and that many of these will be laid off.
Elon is laying off around 40 people in Viken in connection with the new closure. In Husfliden it is not clear how many are laid off yet, but here too layoffs are announced.
The directors are asking the government to cut the time the employer has to cover the salaries of layoffs from ten to two days. At the same time, Bjerkebakke in Elon points out that it will be impossible to comply with the duty to notify employees when it is shut down for a few hours’ notice.
Twelve days of unpaid pay
– We have a duty to notify two days before we lay off, but it will be impossible now. So it will be ten plus two days where the employer must cover salary, in reality twelve days, says Bjerkebakke.
For stores that constantly have to close and open, there will be a total of many days you have to pay full salary, despite the fact that income is very reduced.
More people drive out and click and get, but it only makes up a fraction of the expected income.
– We have tried a bit with people being able to call in and order, but it becomes almost insignificant, says Bjerkebakke.
– It will not be able to replace our turnover, but cover some of the loss, says Næsseth in Husfliden about driving home.
Want better conditions for employees
In Kremmerhuset, around 100 people have now been laid off in connection with the new closure. Kremmerhuset states that click and download and the online store make up around 30 percent of a store’s turnover.
– We would like there to be better redundancy schemes for both companies and employees, at least when it is as unpredictable as it is now. It is tough for people to go down to a lower wage level, so when it becomes as unpredictable as now, one should have looked at compensating more, says CEO Vebjørn Torsetnes in Kremmerhuset to NTB.
He also believes that the crisis packages should have been in place before the closure.
– I think maybe now that we have had this pandemic for a year, that one should have had more crisis packages and solutions in place. I understand that it is challenging, but it seems a bit too ad hoc, he says.
He emphasizes that Kremmerhuset had a good 2020 and is thus equipped to cope with the closure in Viken until 11 April.
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