On January 18th, the German government, in a cabinet meeting, introduced a draft law aimed at fighting the recurring rise of seasonal unemployment during winter months. It proposes to improve the current system of allowance and to extend it to all the branches touched by a fall in activity for climatic reasons (building, agriculture, forestry development, house painters, etc). (Ref. 0652)
Concretely, the government intends to introduce a new system of allowance called Season-Kurzarbeitergeld (allowance for unemployed seasonal workers). To avoid the dismissal of employees, the federal Agency of Work (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) would give them 60% of their last take-home pay (and 68% for those with a child). During this period, (from December to March) employers would pay only social security contributions (calculated on a basis of 80% of the wages). The text also allows employers
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