Important information on COVID 19 short-time work allowance

Time limits

For enterprises applying for short-time work only for the following periods or affected by an imposed ban on entry, the obligation to have the economic justification confirmed by tax advice does not apply.

Upper Austria: period 15.11. to 16.12.2021

Burgenland, Tyrol and Vorarlberg: 22.11. to 11.12.2021

Carinthia, Lower Austria, Salzburg and Styria: 22.11. to 16.12.2021

Vienna: 22.11. to 19.12.2021

Retroactive application is currently possible. Projects with a start date during the period of an imposed ban on entry can be submitted up to four weeks (28 days) after the start of short-time work.

New Federal Guideline on COVID-19 Short-Time Work Allowance

Due to the lockdown regulations, the Administrative Council of the Public Employment Service has adopted amendments to the Federal Guideline on COVID-19 Short-Time Work Allowance. These changes apply subject to the confirmation by the supervisory ministries still required by law.

The new guideline provides for the following adjustments in particular:

Compulsory counselling for companies that did not short-time work in the period between 01.04. and 30.6.2021 (phase 4) is suspended until the project starts on 31.01.2022.

The special regulation for particularly affected enterprises to receive 100 % aid level was extended until 31.03.2022.

Particularly affected enterprises are those enterprises:

• that were liable to VAT assessment in 2019 and 2020 and had a decrease in turnover of 50% or more in Q3 2020 compared to Q3 2019, or.
• are affected by an entry ban imposed after 01/07/2021.

Note: If you now submit an application for a modification of a current subsidy as a particularly affected enterprise on the grounds of an "entry ban", you can receive 100% of the subsidy amount from the monthly partial settlement for November 2021 until the end of the short-time working period. For any overpaid amounts from monthly partial settlements BEFORE November 2021, a settlement correction will be made within the framework of the last monthly partial settlement.

Currently, companies that are assigned to one of the following ÖNACE 2008 classifications are affected by a ban on entering.

Duration of short-time work

The duration of the granting of subsidies is limited to a maximum of six months and must end on 30.06.2022 at the latest.

In view of the special nature of the Corona crisis, periods of short-time work before 31.03.2020 are not to be counted towards the maximum duration of short-time work (this amounts to a maximum of 24 months according to § 37b Abs.4. AMSG).

Lost working time

The obligation for all enterprises to use at least 50% of the lost working time of apprentices on short-time work for training and further training will be dropped for the months of November and December 2021.

The loss of working time may not normally exceed 50% of normal working time. In the case of particularly affected enterprises, the loss of working time may also amount to up to 70%, in special cases (e.g. ban on entering) up to 90%.

Exceeding the 90% lost working time is only possible in the course of the settlement if:

• the company is directly affected by an imposed ban on entering the premises,
• has applied for exactly 90% downtime, and
• the exceeding of the 90% is only due to the absence of work performance during an imposed ban on entering.

In addition to making a serious effort to reduce old leave entitlements, employees/apprentices must consume at least one week of leave within the short-time work period for every 2 months of short-time work started. In any case, the company may not offset lost hours to this extent if a holiday entitlement exists.

You can find more information about this topic at: https://www.ams.at/unternehmen/personalsicherung-und-fruehwarnsystem/kurzarbeit