As Labor Minister Martin Kocher announced Tuesday morning, the current short-time working model, which is limited to the end of June, will be extended until the end of the year. A corresponding proposal will be decided on Tuesday by the AMS board of directors. The social partners were also involved in the decision-making and Kocher spoke of a ‘good compromise’. Short-time working will thus exist “in very specific cases” and will also be “strictly controlled”.
The Corona short-time working model, which has been in effect since March 2020, was reformed in mid-2021 and there were two different models until March 2022. On the one hand there was an unchanged variant for companies that were particularly affected until the end of March 2022 and on the other hand there was a transition model with a reduced financing amount for companies until the end of June 2022.
The current model, where employers share 15 percent of the costs, will now be extended until the end of the year.
Replacement rate remains the same until the end of the year
The net replacement rate for employees on Corona short-time working has not changed since March 2020 and stands at 90 percent, 85 percent or 80 percent, depending on income level. The replacement rate should remain the same until the end of the year.
So far, almost ten billion euros has been spent on short-time work
Most employees were on short-time working in April 2020, when more than a million people received unemployment benefits. About 53,000 people were pre-registered for short-time working at the start of the week. From March 2020 to the end of March 2022, government expenditure on short-time working as a result of the coronavirus amounted to 9.56 billion euros. More recent figures are not yet available.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
