Corona short-time work costs Austria over 9 billion – Corona virus Vienna
Corona short-time work cost the Austrian state around 9.27 billion euros from March 2020 to the end of January 2022, as reports by Marin Kocher (ÖVP) to the Social Committee of the National Council show.
Including outstanding obligations, the short-time work budget burden had run to around 11.12 billion euros at the end of January, according to a broadcast of the parliamentary correspondence. However, the duration of the grant has been extended.
Evaluation of Corona short-time work
The committee members assessed the short-time work differently at today’s meeting. For ÖVP MP Ernst Gödl, short-time work has proven its worth and is a “suitable instrument” for securing jobs and income in the pandemic. Gerald Loacker (NEOS) and Dagmar Belakowitsch (FPÖ) referred to the “devastating judgment” of the Court of Auditors. The RH found serious shortcomings in the recently published review of corona short-time work for the period from March 2020 to the end of March 2021. Among other things, from the point of view of the Court of Appeal, there was an unintentional overpayment of EUR 500 million. SPÖ mandate Michael Seemayer (SPÖ) was concerned about the increase in applications for short-time work due to the Ukraine crisis.
Kocher about Corona short-time work
The short-time work was basically an economic cost-benefit analysis, said Kocher according to parliamentary correspondence in the social committee. Without their introduction, unemployment would have been high. Short-time work is currently being used more because of delivery bottlenecks caused by the Ukraine crisis, according to the Labor Minister. Kocher rejected the repayment of overfunding demanded by Loacker. Claims for reimbursement are excluded by law.
With the votes of the ÖVP, Greens, SPÖ and FPÖ, an extension of the granting of short-time work subsidies was initiated in the committee. According to this, aid for pandemic-related short-time work can be granted for more than 24 months without special justification until the end of May. Kocher emphasized that this is not an extension of short-time work per se, but an extension for those companies that have been on short-time work for 24 months and have not yet been able to start full business operations.
Special care time: extension promised
Minister of Labor Martin Kocher (ÖVP) announced on Wednesday in the social committee that the special care period that has been in force since 2020 will be extended for parents who have to look after their children at home due to the corona virus. It is to be extended until the end of the school year, Kocher announced, according to parliamentary correspondence. The last details still have to be clarified at the moment.
Special care time: reimbursement of wage costs
During the special care period, the wage costs are reimbursed to employers by the federal government. The instrument is financed from the COVID-19 Crisis Management Fund. They would have expired at the end of March. The union recently campaigned for an extension.
The SPÖ pushed for an early announcement of the further procedure on Wednesday in the social committee. The Freedom Party criticized that there is only a right to special care time if children are officially in quarantine and spoke out in favor of keeping the schools generally open.