Apply for seasonal short-time allowance

If your business belongs to the construction industry or an equivalent business and you experience loss of work during the so-called bad-weather period, you can partially compensate for your employees' loss of earnings through seasonal short-time allowance.

If your construction company cannot carry out its work due to snowfall, for example, seasonal short-time allowance can partially compensate for the loss of earnings. It is intended to relieve your business and help preserve jobs.

Seasonal short-time allowance is limited to businesses

• of the construction industry,
• of the scaffolding trade,
• of the roofing trade and
• of landscaping and gardening.

You can only receive the benefit during the so-called bad weather period from December to March.

As an employer, you must apply for, pay out, and account for the seasonal short-time allowance. Your employees do not need to do anything.

Seasonal short-time work can be introduced for your entire business or limited to individual departments.

The exact amount of the seasonal short-time allowance depends on the respective income of your employees and the actual loss of work and earnings during the seasonal short-time work:

• 60 percent of the lost net wages for employees without a child in the household
• 67 percent of the lost net salary for employees with at least one child in the household.

In addition to seasonal short-time allowance, you can apply for supplementary benefits for your employees, such as the reimbursement of social security contributions.

You generally receive the seasonal short-time allowance from the very first hour of work lost.

As an employer, you initially advance the payment of wages and salaries to your employees. The short-time allowance is settled monthly in retrospect with the Federal Employment Agency at the location of the payroll office and is paid out to you retroactively.

You can apply for seasonal short-time allowance in writing or online. However, if applicable, you can also use KEA (electronic acceptance of short-time allowance documents).

If you wish to apply for the seasonal short-time allowance in writing:

• You calculate monthly wage and salary payments as well as seasonal short-time allowance.
• You pay the wages for hours worked and the seasonal short-time allowance for lost hours to your employees and remit the social security contributions.
• You apply monthly retroactively for the reimbursement of the seasonal short-time allowance to the competent Employment Agency (application for seasonal short-time allowance and accounting list).
• The Employment Agency will review your application and the statement of account. If your application is approved, the seasonal short-time allowance will be transferred to you. You will receive a written notification regarding this.
• Following the end of the seasonal short-time work, the Employment Agency will review your submitted statements as part of a final audit and, if necessary, correct the approved seasonal short-time allowance.

If you want to apply for the seasonal short-time allowance online:

• Access the "eServices" portal on the website of the Federal Employment Agency.
• Log in with your user ID and access the application for seasonal short-time allowance.
• Fill out the application, upload the billing list, and submit the application.
• The Employment Agency will review your application and documents. You will receive a notice regarding the decision on your application from the Employment Agency.
• The remaining procedural steps correspond to the written procedure.

If you want to use KEA for the application for seasonal short-time allowance and the corresponding payroll list:

• You will need certified payroll software that supports transmission via KEA.
• In this case, you can transmit your application for seasonal short-time allowance and the corresponding payroll list fully digitally and securely from your payroll software to the Employment Agency.

• Objection
• Lawsuit before the social court