Apply for additional winter allowance as a supplemental benefit to seasonal short-time allowance

If your company belongs to the construction industry or is equivalent to it and your employees work at a weather-dependent workplace, you can, under certain conditions, receive additional winter allowance and pay it out to your employees.

The additional winter allowance is paid as a supplementary benefit for eligible hours worked by employees who are employed at a weather-dependent workplace. A workplace is weather-dependent if employees are exposed to the weather, such as snowfall, rain, or frost.

The additional winter allowance is limited to companies

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

For every hour worked at a weather-dependent workplace, your employees are entitled to an additional winter allowance of EUR 1.00.

As an employer, you can apply for the additional expense winter allowance for the period from December 15 to the last calendar day of the month of February. The number of eligible working hours is

• up to 90 working hours in December,
• up to 180 working hours each in January and February.

You will receive additional winter allowance only for blue-collar employees. These are employees whose employment relationships cannot be terminated during the bad-weather period for weather-related reasons in accordance with collective agreements. Since the collective agreements are generally binding, this applies to all blue-collar employees in the industry. Salaried employees and foremen are not eligible.

You can apply for the winter allowance for additional expenses in writing or online. You can also use the KEA procedure ("Kurzarbeitergeld-Dokumente elektronisch annehmen" - electronic acceptance of short-time allowance documents).

If you want to apply for the additional winter allowance in writing:

• You calculate the wages and the extra effort winter allowance.
• You pay the wages and the extra-effort winter allowance to your employees and remit social security contributions.
• You apply monthly in retrospect for the reimbursement of the additional expenditure winter allowance (Mehraufwands-Wintergeld) at the responsible local office of the Federal Employment Agency. For this purpose, you submit:
  • Application for seasonal short-time allowance
  • Billing list
• The Employment Agency will review your application and the statement of account.
• If your application is approved, you will receive the additional winter allowance by bank transfer.
• After the end of the bad weather period, the Employment Agency will review your submitted statements as part of a final audit and, if necessary, correct the approved additional expense winter allowance.

If you want to apply for the additional winter allowance online:

• Open the "eServices for Companies" portal on the Federal Employment Agency's website.
• 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.
• If your application is approved, you will receive the additional winter allowance by bank transfer.
• After the end of the bad weather period, the Employment Agency will review your submitted statements as part of a final audit and, if necessary, correct the approved additional expense winter allowance.

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

• Use certified payroll software that supports transmission via KEA.
• Submit your application from your payroll software to the Employment Agency.

• Appeal: Further information on how to file an appeal can be found in the notice regarding your application
• Lawsuit before the social court