Just half the 11,500 people who have applied for financial help because they have a flexible employment contract and have not been able to work because of coronavirus have been awarded funding, the state jobs agency UWV told broadcaster NOS on Tuesday.

Those rejected for the TOFA funding did not meet the guidelines because they either had not earned enough in February or had earned too much in April, the UWV said.

The scheme is only open to people who earned at least €400 in February and two months later were still earning no more than half of their February gross income.

In total, the state jobs agency UWV, which is administering the scheme, will pay people on flexible contracts up to €1,650 for the period March to May. Applications for help opened on June 22 and will close on July 12.

The scheme was developed because some workers, often students and people on staffing agency contracts, are not able to claim financial support via the various other schemes and were not entitled to social security either.

Tens of thousands of people – particularly people on temporary or zero hours contracts – are thought to have been left with no income because they are not covered by the existing rulings.