With the help of our calculator you can find out how much short-time allowance you are entitled to. We also answer frequently asked questions on the subject.
Special rules extended again
The Corona pandemic is still ongoing: The special rules for the facilitated receipt of short-time allowance for a maximum of 24 months have been extended again by three months until the end of the year 31. March 2021 extended – including the higher short-time allowance.
What is short-time work??
Temporary crisis assistance. In the wake of the Corona crisis, many companies are experiencing a drop in orders, have to close down due to official orders and see their existence threatened. Of course, these effects also affect the employees. With short-time work, companies can bridge such times of crisis economically: Employees work fewer hours than usual or as agreed in their employment contract and receive short-time allowance in return.
Works council determines with. However, employers cannot order this unilaterally. If there is a works council, it has a mandatory right of co-determination – even in times of the Corona pandemic. If there is no works council, the employer must agree the short-time work with each individual employee concerned.
When is short-time allowance granted?
Short-time work is regulated in sections 95 to 109 of the Social Security Code III. Short-time allowance is a benefit of the unemployment insurance and is paid by the employment agency. For this reason, employers can only apply for short-time allowance for employees who are also subject to compulsory unemployment insurance.
Tip. You can also find information on this at the Federal Employment Agency and the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
Independent. Objective. Incorruptible.
Special rules because of Corona until the end of March 2022
According to the "Kurz-arbeitergeld-verlangerungs-ver-ordnung", the possibility of receiving short-time allowance for a maximum of 24 months has been extended for another three months until 31 March 2022. March 2022 extended. In addition, the "Act to Strengthen Vaccination Prevention against Covid-19" also extended the entitlement to increased short-time allowance until the end of March 2022 (see below).
In addition, the simplified access rules will remain in force until 31 December. March 2022. Companies can take advantage of short-time allowances if at least ten percent of employees are affected by the work stoppage. However, the full reimbursement of social insurance contributions expires at the end of 2021. As of January 2022, only half of the contributions will be reimbursed. Full reimbursement of social security contributions is now only possible under certain conditions (see below).
How long is short-time allowance available??
Short-time work is basically applied for by the employer at the Federal Employment Agency (to the application).
Employees can exceptionally, due to the Corona pandemic, claim a total of up to 24 months (instead of only 12 months) Short-term employee benefit until the end of March 2022 instead of until the end of 2021. This applies to those whose entitlement to short-time allowance expires by 31. March 2021 has arisen. Otherwise, short-time allowance is granted for up to 12 months. Employees receive the short-time allowance directly from their employer, who is then reimbursed by the Federal Employment Agency.
Attention: If the short-time work is interrupted for 3 months or longer, the employer must report the short-time work to the employment agency again. In this case, short-time allowance is only paid again from the month in which the new notification is received by the employment agency.
What applies to temporary work?
Temporary workers can also receive short-time allowance. This applies to temporary employment agencies that have started short-time work by the end of December 2021.
Are overtime and vacation charged?
Employees must first reduce overtime and remaining vacation time. However, you may not use vacation time for the current calendar year. But: Short-time work is still possible without having to build up negative working-time balances (minus hours). This applies to companies that have started short-time work by the end of 2021.
Do I keep my full vacation entitlement when I am on short-time work due to the Corona pandemic??
According to a ruling by the Federal Labor Court (BAG), employees must accept a pro-rata reduction in their annual leave if they are unable to work for a certain number of days due to short-time work. This applies to employees who have been or are in short-time work zero. According to the BAG, there is no pro-rata vacation entitlement for the periods in which work was completely stopped. Case: A saleswoman was on short-time work for several months in 2020. -Your boss reduced your vacation by a few days (Az. 9 AZR 234/21, press release of the Federal Labor Court of 30 September 2006. November 2021).
What about social security contributions??
The employment agency reimburses employers for social insurance contributions during short-time work until the end of the period December 2021 complete. From 1. January 2022 The Federal Employment Agency will now only reimburse short-time work allowance 50 percent the contributions. This is regulated by the "Kurz-arbeitergeld-verlangerungs-ver-ordnung" until the end of the year March 2022. Nevertheless, employers can be reimbursed for the other 50 percent of social insurance contributions if employees take part in vocational training during their short-time work, which is subsidized under certain conditions. Depending on the size of the company, the training costs for these courses can also be reimbursed in full or in part.
How much short-time allowance will I receive??
As an employee, you receive 60 percent of the net wage that is actually due for the lost working time. If at least one child lives in the household, the short-time allowance is around 67 percent. The employer must also apply for this. There are also until the end of March 2022 more money – instead of only until the end of 2021:
- If you are on short-time working for at least 50 percent of the time, you will receive from the fourth month the receipt of short-time allowance 70 percent of the lost net wage and from the seventh month 80 percent.
- With Children are entitled to it from the fourth month 77 percent and from the seventh month 87 percent.
- For the calculation of the reference months, the months with short-time work from March 2020 count.
- The increased short-time allowance is paid to all employees whose entitlement to short-time allowance has until the end of March 2021 has arisen. In addition, employees who have since April 2021 have been on short-time work for the first time, from January to March 2022 are entitled to the increased benefit rates.
Tip. Check your collective bargaining agreement. Some collective agreements, such as those in the metal and electrical industries, provide for short-time allowance to be increased to almost 100 percent of the net wage.
How to calculate the short-time allowance?
The easiest way to do this is to use our new calculator. It takes into account the new increases. The calculation is based on a flat-rate net remuneration of. The regular gross wage in the sense of social insurance up to the contribution assessment limit is decisive. Remuneration for overtime and special payments are not included. The social security contributions for short-time allowance are paid by the employment agency.
What happens if I fall ill during short-time work??
In the event of sick leave, they are entitled to continued payment of wages and later to sick pay. During the first six weeks, you will continue to receive your reduced salary plus short-time allowance. After six weeks, the health insurance company will pay you sick pay based on the income you earned before the short-time work. It amounts to a maximum of 90 percent of your net salary minus the employer’s contribution to social security.
Does working short hours affect my vacation entitlement??
Yes. If you work less, you have less vacation. This was decided by the Dussel-dorf Regional Labor Court (Az. 6 Sa 824/20, appeal admitted). The purpose of the vacation was to recover from work. This presupposes a corresponding activity. For each month in which the employee was on short-time work zero, the annual leave can be reduced by one-twelfth.
How much additional income am I allowed to earn during short-time work??
You may only earn additional income within certain limits so that your short-time allowance is not reduced.
From January to December 2021: You can earn additional money during your short-time work – but only to a limited extent. It remains maximum 450 Euro earnings from mini-jobs free of charge in a month.
From May to the end of December 2020: You could earn up to the amount of your original net salary through additional jobs, without the additional earnings being counted towards your short-time allowance. The only condition is that you may not exceed the amount of the net wage that you received before the short-time work.
Attention! If you already had the mini-job or another secondary activity before starting your short-time work, the income from it will generally not be taken into account for your short-time work allowance.
I am now working short-time. Can it be worthwhile to take on an additional mini-job??
Whether it is financially worthwhile for you, of course, is up to you to decide in the end. Do you have a sideline 450-euro job, As a rule, you will not have to pay any additional taxes.
If you earn an average of 450 euros per month or 5,400 euros per year on the side, the following rules apply:
- Supplements. The 450-euro limit does not include tax-advantaged supplements such as benefits in kind or work on public holidays and at night.
- Taxes. A flat rate of 2 percent wage tax is due on the earnings. Often the wage tax is paid by the employer. Then you do not have to declare your additional earnings in your tax return.
- Social security contributions. The employer pays health and pension insurance contributions. As a mini-jobber you are obliged to pay part of the contributions to the statutory pension fund yourself. It may be worthwhile so that you have more benefit entitlements. However, you can be exempted from this obligation. Find out from the Minijob-Zentrale what the additional contributions will bring you in individual cases (minijob-zentrale.de).
Do I get less unemployment benefit because of short-time work??
No, should you lose your job, you do not have to worry about it. Short-time allowance is a wage-replacement benefit and does not affect the calculation of unemployment benefit I. If you lose your job, you are entitled to the usual unemployment benefit, and the duration is not reduced.
Do I have to pay tax on my short-time allowance??
No, short-time allowance is tax-free. However, it is notionally added to the taxable income. This results in Higher tax rate, applied to the rest of your income. It is not yet taken into account in the wage tax deduction by the employer; it is only taken into account in the tax settlement with the tax office. This is how additional claims can arise.
If you are still receiving wages because you are not completely on short-time work, your employer automatically adjusts your wage tax to your lower salary.
Does the tax class affect the short-time allowance??
Yes, very much. Because the amount of the short-time allowance depends on your monthly income Net salary and thus ultimately also from the tax class. As Married you have the chance to get more wage replacement with the right tax class. The most favorable for the partner who expects wage replacement is tax class III. The other partner will then have to pay a relatively high amount of income tax. But the money is not lost. The tax office refunds it after the tax return. On the other hand, an unfavorable tax class costs money when replacing wages.
Salary calculator. You can use our salary calculator to find out how the tax class affects your net salary. The change can be applied for before or during the short-time working period. If you want to change to tax class III/V, you must apply jointly as a couple. A change to class IV can also be initiated by one person alone, the other then automatically slips into the IV. The form "Antrag auf Steuerklassen-wechsel bei Ehegatten/Lebenspartners" (Application for change of tax class for spouses/life partners) can be printed out at formulare-bfinv.en. By the way, since the beginning of 2020 you can change your tax class several times a year.
Tip: If your household budget cannot cope with the high wage tax deductions in class V, married couples can also both take IV instead of III/V. The wage tax is then more moderate and the wage replacement at least somewhat higher than in tax class V.
What do parents have to prove for the higher short-time allowance??
In your electronic wage tax deduction characteristics – Elstam – must be a Child tax-free allowance must be entered by at least 0.5. It does not matter how many children you have. You can get the information about Elstam yourself on the portal of the financial administration via "My Elster" under "Forms&" Retrieve "benefits" electronically at any time. To do this, you only have to register once under "My Elster" (elster.en) register. Now it can be that this so-called child-free-amount-counter is missing, because your child turned 18 this year and therefore the free-amount is no longer automatically taken into account, but only on application. Let then fast-tens a child-free-amount in your Elstam of the tax office enter.
Only up to 25. Parents are also entitled to child allowances for children over the age of 18 if their offspring is in training, studying or doing a voluntary social year. Like the child benefit, there are child-free allowances, but only up to the age of 25. Date of birth.
I have tax class V, my husband III. Which certificate is necessary for me to receive increased short-time allowance because of our child??
For married mothers and fathers with tax class V, no child-free-amount-counter is taken into account in the Elstam, but only for the spouse or partner with the tax class V Tax class III. In order to receive the higher short-time allowance of 67 percent with tax class V, you need an Elstam printout of your spouse or legal partner with tax class III as proof of the child-free allowance. This is also the case for parents who have a second employment relationship with tax class VI and expect short-time allowance there. As a substitute, they also take the Elstam printout of their main employment relationship in tax classes I to IV.
Electronic information. You can also get information about Elstam yourself via "My Elster" under "Forms&" Retrieve "benefits" electronically at any time. All you have to do is register once under "My Elster".
As a student, can I receive short-time work allowance for my part-time job??
To be eligible for short-time allowance, students must be employed in their part-time job as a regular employee (for example, if they work more than 20 hours per week) and pay into the unemployment insurance scheme. However, this is not the case for many typical types of employment for students:
Mini-job. Those who work on a mini-job basis alongside their studies – i.e. earn less than 450 euros per month – do not pay into the unemployment insurance scheme. Therefore, he is not eligible for short-worker benefits. The same applies to students who work as short-term employees during semester breaks.
Work-study. If students usually work a maximum of 20 hours a week, they are often employed as work-study students. You pay wage tax and pension insurance, but not unemployment insurance. That’s why work-study students are not entitled to short-time pay.
Self-employed. Students who work as self-employed persons on account are also not entitled to short-time allowance. After all, they are not directly employed by their clients.
I get short-worker’s compensation. Would my pension be lower as a result??
Yes. But perhaps less than you assume. Because the employer tops up your pension contributions. This is pointed out by the Deutsche Renten-versicherung Nord (German Pension Insurance North). As an employee, you continue to be insured under the statutory pension insurance scheme. You pay less during the short-time work, because your pension insurance contributions are now deducted on the basis of your reduced earnings. But the employer continues to pay more. His share is calculated on the basis of a fictitious salary amounting to 80 percent of the earnings that are lost due to short-time work.
Example: Until now, they had a monthly gross income of 5,000 euros. During short-time work, your earnings are reduced to a quarter – that is, to 1,250 euros gross per month. The pension insurance contributions are calculated as follows:
basis employees: 1 250 euros in earnings
basis employer: 3,750 euros in lost earnings (5,000 euros – 1,250 euros) x 80 percent = 3,000 euros
Total basis: 4 250 Euro (1 250 Euro employee +3 000 Euro employer)
Result: 18.6 percent of 4,250 euros flow into your pension account each month. That’s 790.50 euros. With your regular earnings of 5,000 euros it would have been 930 euros. In this example, pension entitlements would be 15 percent lower for the period of short-time work.
For individual advice Contact the German Pension Insurance, also available by phone at 0800 1000 4800.