Morocco Faces Potential Mass Layoffs as COVID-19 Aid Ends, Businesses Seek Alternatives

The end of emergency aid to employees called the "Covid-19 allowance" had a deadline. It is June 30. But at this deadline, some business leaders did not have the 2,000 DH allowance in their purse. As a result, mass layoffs are likely. Faced with this situation, one of the measures proposed by the employers would be the implementation of partial unemployment. This mechanism would then take over from the Covid-19 allowance from July for a year. Thus, the employer would cover 50% of the salary and 50% by the State within the limit of 3,000 DH. This system is conditional on maintaining 80% of the workforce. At the CGEM, we are waiting for the roadmap to be introduced in the amending finance law, explains l’Economiste.

To avoid this prospect of mass layoffs, the unions want the Covid-19 allowance to be maintained. The UMT, whose secretary general is Miloudi Al Mokhareq, has contacted the head of government and is alerting on the lack of data on the number of employees who have actually resumed activity. Given the situation, the trade union organizations are also asking for the establishment of a social monitoring committee.

It should be remembered that the provisions of the labor code (from 66 to 76) stipulate the dismissal procedure. Thus, the employer in companies with 10 or more employees, who plans to lay off all or part of his employees, must notify the staff delegates or union representatives. This must be done at least one month in advance. The employer must also specify the period of this dismissal, specifies the newspaper.