Austria: ‘Covid 19 short-time working’ arrangements extended alongside other measures to facilitate the gradual resumption of business

On 25 May Austria's  Ministry of Employment and Social Affairs (Sozialministerium) approved a compromise negotiated between the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKÖ) and the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB). The agreement provides for a three-month extension for short-time working arrangements, the possibility for companies to increase working time without needing to alter their short-time working requests, as well as they being able to return to full activity for a short temporary period, without having to exit the scheme.
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1.3 million on short-time working. One week after the ‘Covid 19 short-time working’ agreement was secured between the country’s social partners, Austria’s ‘Sozialministerium’ approved the modified ‘Covid 19 short-time working’ arrangements on 25 May, and placed the relevant application forms online. This new agreement follows the original that was formulated in March at the start of the coronavirus crisis and that had sought to relax procedural constraints for accessing the short-time working s

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