In its press release from 20 January 2021, the Federal Council extended a number of articles from the «COVID-19 Ordinance on Unemployment Insurance»; primarily the provisions for short-time work compensation. These entered into force retroactively on 1 March 2020. On 19 March 2021, the deadlines for the measures relating to the simplified short-time work compensation procedure and the waiting period were extended until 30 June 2021. The Federal Council has already made various adjustments to the «Ordinance on Measures in the Field of Unemployment Insurance in Connection with the Coronavirus (COVID-19)», most recently on 23 June 2021. The Federal Council has decided to increase the maximum period of entitlement to short-time work compensation to 24 months. In addition, the summary settlement procedure was extended.
The ordinance regulates extending the extension of framework periods; the exclusion of periods where working hours were reduced by over 85% between the start of March and the end of August 2020; vocational trainers’ eligibility for short-time work compensation and the summary procedure for short-time working arrangements.
Topic |
Resolution and conditions |
Period of validity |
Eligible loss of working hours: temporary staff and apprentices |
The work absences of fixed-term employees and apprentices can be credited under certain conditions. Fixed-term employees are entitled if the measures ordered by the authorities prevent them from fully taking up work. For apprentices, three conditions must be met:
|
From the accounting period January 2021 to 30 September 2021 |
Eligible loss of working hours: employees on call |
Employees on call whose employment level varies considerably (more than 20%) are entitled to short-time work compensation. Provided that they have been employed for at least six months in a company with short-time work compensation and the complete return to work is prevented by the official measures. |
From 1 March 2020 to 30 September 2021 |
Eligible loss of working hours: vocational trainers |
If a company has already registered short time working arrangements, compensation can also be requested for vocational trainers. The company must provide evidence that it is not possible to provide training for apprentices unless there is adequate supervision. In such cases, the short-time work compensation only covers the time that the trainer should have been on reduced hours, but actually spent training apprentices. These hours qualify as an eligible loss of work. Proof of eligible loss of work must be provided for all hours that were not dedicated to training. This is required in order for short-time work compensation to be paid. |
From 1 March 2020 to 30 September 2021 |
Waiting time |
If the employer is entitled to claim compensation for eligible short time working arrangements in the event of lost working hours, no waiting period is deducted. The unemployment insurance funds adapt the statements retroactively and make the back payments to the employer. |
From 1 March 2020 to 30 June 2021 |
Additional income |
In accordance with the decision of the Federal Council on 26 August 2020, employees who earn income from interim employment during short-time work, momentarily do not have to inform their employer of this. Therefore, nor does the employer have to inform the fund. |
From 1 March 2020 to 31 August 2020 |
120 extra days of daily allowances |
For insured persons who were entitled to a maximum of 120 extra daily allowances, the framework period for the allowance receipt was extended by the period of eligibility. The maximum extension is six months. |
From 1 March 2020 to 31 August 2020 |
Maximum duration of benefits |
The Unemployment Insurance Act also stipulates that the maximum duration of benefits in the event of a loss of working hours of 85% or more may exceed the maximum of four accounting periods. |
From 1 March 2020 to 31 March 2021 |
Accounting |
The applicable loss of earnings is usually based on the contractually agreed salary for the last payment period prior to the introduction of short time working measures. According to the COVID-19 Ordinance, loss of earnings is still calculated using the summary procedure. This also applies to companies with low incomes. In this case, the loss of earnings must be calculated individually for each income category. There are three categories, depending on the monthly income for full-time working hours. The compensation for short-time work is:
Usually, the employer is required to send the fund a statement of the short-time work compensation. While the COVID-19 Ordinance applies, the compensation is, however, paid as a lump sum of 80%. |
From 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2021 |
Changes to compensation for short-time work
Employers were only required to renew the advance notice of short-time working arrangements due to COVID-19 loss of working hours if the short-time work lasted for more than six months. This passage has been cancelled since 1 September 2020 and the rules of the Unemployment Insurance Act apply once again. Therefore, advance notice must be renewed if the short time working arrangements last more than three months (Article 36 (1) of the Unemployment Insurance Act).
