Apply for supplementary winter allowance as an additional benefit instead of seasonal short-time allowance

If your company belongs to the construction industry or is treated as such and you lose work during the so-called bad weather period, you can receive a winter allowance under certain conditions and thus partially compensate for your employees' loss of earnings.

If, for example, a construction company is unable to carry out construction work due to snowfall in the months from December to March, seasonal short-time allowance or supplementary benefits can partially compensate for the loss of earnings. It is intended to relieve your company and help to preserve jobs.

The subsidized winter allowance is limited to companies

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

The winter subsidy is intended to ease the burden on your business and help you to preserve jobs. In order for you to receive the subsidized winter allowance, the legislator requires that your company compensates for or avoids loss of pay by releasing working time credits. Employees can be granted a winter allowance of EUR 2.50 net per hour for every hour deposited in the working time account if this avoids the need to claim seasonal short-time allowance. The supplementary winter allowance is limited to lost hours that fall within the regular working hours of the company. However, lost overtime cannot be partially compensated with supplementary winter allowance.

The period is limited to the months of December to March.

Supplementary winter allowance can only be paid to employees who are subject to commercial insurance contributions. Salaried employees and foremen are not entitled.

• Application for seasonal short-time allowance (S-Kug) and supplementary benefits
• Settlement list for seasonal short-time allowance (S-Kug) and supplementary benefits - attachment to the application for benefits

Forms available: Yes
Written form required: Yes
Informal application possible: No
Personal appearance necessary: No
Online services available: Yes

You can apply for a winter allowance for

• temporary and unavoidable loss of working hours
  • for economic reasons or
  • for weather-related reasons or
  • as a result of an unavoidable event and
• the release of working time credits so that no seasonal short-time allowance is claimed.

Company requirements:

• Your company belongs to the building trade, scaffolding trade, roofing trade or gardening and landscaping trade.
• Your company or company department employs at least 1 employee.

Personal requirements:

• Employees subject to commercial insurance contributions who have not been dismissed and with whom no termination agreement has been concluded
• Working time credit is dissolved

• Objection
• Action before the social court

You can apply for the winter allowance in writing or online. You can also use KEA (Kurzarbeitergeld-Dokumente elektronisch annehmen) if necessary.

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

• You dissolve the working time credit to compensate for the employees' loss of working hours.
• You pay the pay and the subsidized winter allowance to your employees for each hour of the working time credit and pay social security contributions.
• You apply for reimbursement of the subsidized winter allowance retroactively each month at the responsible office of the employment agency (application for seasonal short-time allowance and payroll list)
• The employment agency checks the application and the payroll list, and the approved subsidized winter allowance is transferred.
• After the end of the bad weather period, the employment agency checks the submitted statements and corrects the approved winter allowance if necessary.

If you want to apply for the winter allowance online:

• Go to the "eServices" portal on the Federal Employment Agency's website.
• Log in with your user ID and call up the application for seasonal short-time allowance.
• Complete the application, upload the payroll list and submit the application.
• The employment agency will check your application and your documents.
• You will receive notification of the decision on your application from the Employment Agency.
• The remaining procedural steps are the same as the written procedure

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

• You will need certified payroll software that supports transmission using KEA.
• In this case, you can transmit your application for seasonal short-time allowance and the corresponding payroll list to the Employment Agency fully digitized and securely from your payroll software.

There are no costs.: Fee free of charge

The receipt of winter allowance is tax-free.