The Austrian National Council decided on Wednesday evening that the Corona short-time work should be extended until the end of June 2021. The increase in emergency assistance to the level of unemployment benefit is also to be continued until the end of March 2021.

Criticism is certainly appropriate, because the Austrian federal government failed to extend the expired increase in emergency aid towards the end of 2020. The consequence of this is that the recipients no longer received any top-up with their benefit payments in February 2021. It is questionable whether the labor market service will be able to pay out the now decided increase on time for the shortest calendar month of the year.

Although the unemployed people should receive the top-up "retroactively to January 1, 2021", this means waiting weeks for additional payments because the labor market service has to recalculate everything. This would have been absolutely avoidable if the federal government had taken the relevant resolutions more quickly and passed them through the National Council. It is better to mess around with “freestyle” for almost a whole month. In this respect, criticism is absolutely dissuaded, because the fact that many people who lost their jobs absolutely through no fault of their own or who were no longer hired as seasonal workers, received less money than the government decided, was absolutely avoidable. Back payments or not, a seamless solution was possible, but the Kurz government did not want it.

In addition, two special corona regulations were extended to the end of June by amendment. On the one hand, this concerns the receipt of unemployment benefit by self-employed people who have temporarily ceased their employment but are still insured as self-employed. On the other hand, an interruption of partial retirement should not have any negative effects on the benefit entitlements of those affected.

Kocher: Withdrawal from short-time work from July 1, 2021

Changes have been made in the area of ​​Corona short-time work. In companies that are officially closed due to the lockdown measures, working hours can now be reduced to zero percent. A very sensible matter, because many companies that are closed also have almost zero employment for their staff. The other special regulations are to be retained for at least three months.

Labor Minister Martin Kocher said in the National Council that a gradual exit from short-time work should take place from July 1, 2021. In this context, it remains exciting to see what effects this will have on the airports and Austrian Airlines. These currently “park” the vast majority of their workforce on short-time work.

The leave regulation for pregnant workers in professions with physical contact will also be extended until the end of June. An extraordinary voluntary year can be started until the end of August through a change in the Volunteer Act. On the other hand, there are further delays in the first long-term report by the Old-Age Insurance Commission - the deadline for submitting the relevant report was postponed to November 2021.

Both the extension of short-time work and the further increase in emergency aid were finally decided with the votes of the ÖVP, SPÖ, FPÖ and the Greens. The Neos party voted against.