Working Life > Modes of Working > Short-Time Work > Seasonal Short Workers’ Money

Seasonal Short Workers’ Money (SSWM)

On April 01, 2006, the law for promotion of full-year employment was enacted. The subject of that law is the “seasonal short workers’ money”. It is to avert times of unemployment in winter. Especially in the construction sector, employees are cancelled due to the wheather and/or low order rates, and re-employed in spring. Now, seasonal short workers’ money replaces what was up to then the bad-wheather-money, respective winter-stoppage-money. Payments are bankrolled by the German unemployment insurance.

The procedure of seasonal short workers’ money is regulated by collective agreements and singular employment contracts. It is subject to co-determination of the works council. General prerequisites for payment are:

• Considerable stoppage in a time of bad wheather due to wheather-conditions (snow, frost), economic reasons (lack of orders) or disasters. This stoppage is unavoidable, i.e. precautions have been taken to prevent the stoppage
• Bad-wheather period is normally from Dec. 01 to March 31. In companies of the crafts of roof-tiling, scaffolding, and gardening and landscaping, it begins already on Nov. 01
• Saved credits of working hours (maximum 10 per cent of annual working hours), that is overtime hours with freetime compensation, have been compensated for already. In a 40-hours week, this upper limit is 208 hours. Of those, up to 50 hours can be used after agreement for bridging work-stoppages outside of the bad-wheather period (e.g. bridging days)
• Vacation only has to be used for avoiding a stoppage if it is untaken rest vacation from the past year
• During the time-period of stoppage, the employee is not entitled to wage, is not cancelled, and continues to be in an isurance-liable employment. Also employees who are inable to work are entitled to be paid, as long as they do not receive sickness benefit. Employees in fixed-term employment relationships are also entitled to payment, “minimally”-employed are not entitled

What is paid:

• 60 % of the net earnings difference for employees without children and 67 % for employees with children. Net earnings difference is calculated as the difference of the net should-earnings and the net is-earnings.
• Social insurance comntributions are paid by the employer. Upon request, these are government-funded to the company. Exception: Scaffolding industry
• No seasonal short workers’ money is paid when working hour credits are redeemed. Instead, the federal labour agency pays the employee an additional winter money (ZWG) of € 2,50 per cancelled working hour. In scaffolding and landscaping/gardening, additional payment is € 1,03>
• Higher-efforts winter money (MWG) is paid by the labour agency if the employee works during the winter time. It is € 1,00 per working hour
• ZWG and MWG are only paid within the time span from Dec. 15 until the end of Feb, and for a maximum of working hours in Dec. and a maximum of 180 in Jan. and Feb.

The sectors in which seasonal short workers’ money is paid:

• Construction business
• Agriculture and forestry
• Masonry and sculpture
• Painting and varnishing
• Gardening, landscaping and sports facility building

• Check if the prerequisites for seasonal short workers’ money are met
• Decisions about seasonal short work, in case such is given, have to be made in cooperation with the works council
• Report writtenly, as an employee, work stoppages to the labour agency that is responsible by region for the company. Required attachment is a written comment of the works council
• The employer has to apply for the money at the labour agency that is locally responsible. This has to be done within the first 3 months after end of the first calendar month of the stoppage period
• The social insurance contributions during the period of receiving SSW money, paid by the employer, are the diminished ones calculating as 80 % of the cancelled wage