Extended again: In Germany, companies should be able to apply for short-time work benefits under easier conditions until the end of September. The reason for this is no longer the corona pandemic.

Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants to extend easier access to short-time work by another three months.

By the end of September, short-time work benefits should be paid if at least ten percent of the employees in the company are affected by the loss of work. Until the beginning of the corona pandemic, the threshold was one third. The planned extension is no longer justified with the effects of the pandemic, but with the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine. There is therefore a risk “that the disruptions in the supply chains that have already occurred during the Covid 19 pandemic and are triggered by it will further intensify”.

With its proposal, the ministry assumes costs of around 60 million euros, since around 50,000 additional employees are expected to be on short-time work every month in the third quarter.

As planned, on June 30, 2022, further special regulations on short-time work benefits due to the pandemic, namely higher benefit rates, longer periods of entitlement and the inclusion of temporary work, are to expire. “This takes into account the fact that the effects on the economy of the Covid 19 pandemic are increasingly diminishing,” the paper says.