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Policy Document

Allowances for short-time work (1 of 5 updates)

Year

2020

Country

Austria

Topic

COVID-19

Subtopic

COVID-19 indicators , Labor Market Indicators , Labor Policy , Policy responses to COVID-19

Keywords

Employment policy Labor market policy SHARE-COVID19 Short-time work Employment Job retention measures COVID-19 policies Public administration response Policy responses Policy measures Containment measures Workplace closures

Main implications

The implementation of a short-time work scheme allows companies to temporarily reduce working hours. This measure aims to prevent layoffs and mitigate the adverse economic and social effects of COVID-19 on businesses and employees. The current scheme was negotiated by social partners, including the Chamber of Labour, Trade Unions, and the Economic Chamber.

Under this scheme, employees' working hours can be reduced, potentially even down to zero hours, while still receiving full or nearly full pay. The employer is only required to compensate employees for the actual time worked.

Benefits & Requirements

Coverage: Eligible groups or beneficiaries

Companies facing temporary economic difficulties.

Criteria for coverage

To be eligible for the short-time work scheme, companies must negotiate and agree on the implementation of short-time work with social partners, including the Chamber of Labour, Trade Unions, and Economic Chamber. The reduced standard working hours must, on average, be between 10% and 90% of the collectively agreed working hours. This applies to full-time workers. For part-time employees, an aliquot reduction is applied. In some cases, the working hours can temporarily be set at zero, but it should be part of a short-time working period. For persons with disabilities (registered disabled persons according to the Act on the Employment of People with Disabilities), a special job security subsidy applies. Employers are reimbursed for the remaining wage costs after deducting the PES (Public Employment Service) short-time work subsidy. Prerequisites for disabled persons to benefit from this subsidy include: An application for short-time work (even retroactive) by a specified deadline (e.g., by 30 June 2020, as mentioned in the text). A disability degree of at least 50% (supported by a notice of assessment). The absence of existing wage subsidies for the disabled person in question.

Read the Law

Original full text web source in native language

§ 37b Arbeitsmarktservicegesetz (AMSG). https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/eli/bgbl/1994/313/P37b/NOR40221502 BGS/AMF/0702/9990/2020. COVID-19-Kurzarbeit Phase 1 (KUA-COVID-19). https://propak.at/images/AMF_2_2020_BRL_KUA_COVID_19.pdf

Secondary Literature & Sources

Secondary literature

Eurofound (2020), COVID-19 short-time work scheme, measure AT-2020-10/229 (measures in Austria), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/AT-2020-10_229.html

Author

Pablo Montano, based on Bernadette Allinger (Forba) and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), 2022. Information revised by Rudolf Winter-Ebmer and Nicole Halmdienst.
Data collected in the framework of the SHARE-COVID Project (GA N°101015924).

Cite as

SPLASH-db.eu(2024): Policy: "§ Section 37b of the Labour Market Service Act (AMSG) - Allowances for short-time work" (Information provided by Pablo Montano, Bernardette Allinger, Eurofound, Rudolf Winter-Ebmer and Nicole Halmdienst). Available at: https://splash-db.eu [Date of access].