Apply for short-time allowance
Description
In difficult economic times, the cost of employment can be a burden for the company. If, for example, companies have a loss of work due to an acute crisis situation because production has to be restricted due to a lack of supplies, short-time work can be indicated. During short-time work, employees temporarily work less or not at all. The short-time allowance then partially compensates for the loss of earnings. It is intended to relieve the burden on your company and help to preserve jobs.
The employers are responsible for the notification of loss of working hours and the application for short-time work compensation. Employees don't have to do anything. Short-time work can be introduced for the company or limited to individual departments. The amount of the short-time allowance depends on the respective income of the employees and the actual loss of work / earnings during short-time work:
- 60 percent of the lost net wage for employees without children in the household
- 67 percent of lost net wages for employees with at least one child in the household
You will receive the short-time allowance at the earliest from the calendar month in which your notification of the loss of work was received by the Federal Employment Agency. The short-time allowance is a reimbursement benefit. As an employer, you first pay wages and salaries to your employees in advance. The short-time allowance is settled monthly retrospectively with the Federal Employment Agency at the location of the payroll office and paid to you retroactively.
Temporary changes to the regulations for short-time work allowance are possible.
For example, due to the Corona crisis, the regulations on short-time work compensation were temporarily changed. The amendments concern, among other things, the extension of the period of receipt of short-time allowance, the contribution of minus hours, the crediting of income from secondary employment, entitlement to short-time allowance for temporary workers and a gradual increase in short-time allowance. You can find out more on the website of the Federal Employment Agency.
Short-time allowance can be applied for in the event of temporary and unavoidable loss of work
- for economic reasons, or
- as a result of an unavoidable event (e.g. temporary official closure of the company).
Minimum requirements:
- There is only an entitlement to short-time allowance if at least one third of the employees are affected by a loss of earnings of more than 10 percent of their gross salary. Due to the Corona crisis, the proportion of employees who must be affected by the loss of working hours has been temporarily reduced to at least 10 percent. You can find out more on the website of the Federal Employment Agency.
Operational requirements:
- Your company or company department employs at least one employee.
- Short-time allowance can also be granted for only one company department.
Personal requirements:
- Employees subject to social security contributions who have not been dismissed and with whom no termination agreement has been concluded
Further prerequisite:
- Notification of loss of work to the Federal Employment Agency, enclosing a statement from the works council
Notification of loss of work (form)
- Annex, if applicable, works agreement with the works council on short-time work
- Annex, if applicable, opinion of the works council
- Attachment, if applicable, copy of the parts of the collective agreement relevant for short-time work
Application for short-time allowance (form)
- Settlement list for short-time allowance – Attachment to the benefit application (form)
You will receive short-time allowance at the earliest from the calendar month in which your notification of the loss of work was received by the Federal Employment Agency.
Forms available: Yes
Written form required: Yes
Informal application possible: No
Personal appearance required: No
Online services available: Yes
You can apply for short-time allowance in writing or online. The procedure is two-stage: first, you indicate the loss of work, then you submit the application.
If you want to apply for short-time allowance in writing:
- You announce short-time work to your employees. Often, a works agreement is concluded with the works council for this purpose. If there is no works council, you must obtain the consent of all employees who will be affected by short-time work.
- You report the short-time work in writing to the responsible service of the Employment Agency (notification of loss of work).
- The Employment Agency examines the notification and decides whether short-time allowance can be granted.
- They calculate the wage and salary payments as well as the short-time allowance on a monthly basis
- You pay the remuneration for hours worked and the short-time allowance for lost hours to your employees and pay the social security contributions.
- You apply for reimbursement of the short-time allowance retroactively on a monthly basis at the responsible office of the Employment Agency (application for short-time allowance and payroll list).
- The Employment Agency checks the application and the payroll list, and approved short-time allowance is transferred.
- After completion of the short-time work, the Employment Agency checks the submitted statements and, if necessary, corrects the approved short-time work allowance.
If you want to apply for short-time allowance online:
- You submit the notification of loss of work, the application for short-time allowance and, if applicable, other documents via the online portal "eServices" of the Federal Employment Agency.
- The remaining procedural steps are the same as the written procedure.
In the event of extraordinary developments on the labour market (such as the spread of the coronavirus), the Federal Government or the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs may temporarily adjust the regulations on short-time work allowance by ordinance.
Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS)
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
