- In view of the current Omikron wave and the associated restrictions on the economy, the Federal Council is again extending the wage guarantees for short-time work.
- Additional simplifications apply to companies that are subject to the 2G+ rule.
As early as mid-December, the Federal Council had ordered stricter measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which could have a restrictive effect on economic activity. To support the companies affected, the Federal Council has decided to amend the Covid-19 ordinance on unemployment insurance.
This extends the summary settlement procedure for short-time work compensation to 31 March and increases the maximum period for short-time work compensation to 24 months. In addition, the grace period and the limitation to four accounting periods for lost work of more than 85 percent will be lifted for all companies.
Legend:
Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin is extending the measures in the economic sector in order to be able to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
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For companies that are affected by the 2G plus obligation, the entitlement to short-time work compensation for people in different employment relationships will be reintroduced under certain conditions. Accordingly, employees on call with a permanent employment contract, employees with fixed-term contracts and apprentices are also entitled to short-time work compensation.
This regulation applies retrospectively from December 20, 2021. The groups of people mentioned are actually entitled to short-time work compensation for as long as the regulation on the 2G-plus obligation is in force, but no longer than March 31, 2022.
Regular operation planned from summer
The maximum period of 24 months for short-time work compensation during the two-year framework was previously limited to February 28, 2022 and will now be extended into the summer. The Federal Council justified this step by saying that all companies without a gap in entitlements could continue to claim short-time work compensation. This ensures that companies that only introduced short-time work later are not disadvantaged.
Legend:
From summer 2022, the usual rules on short-time work and the maximum period of entitlement will apply again.
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In addition to the repeated extension, the Federal Council is also making it clear that from July 1, 2022, the normal maximum tenure period of twelve months per framework period will come into force again for all companies.
This corresponds to a recommendation of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In its latest country report on Switzerland, it wrote that the short-time work regime should be scaled back as soon as most of the pandemic restrictions were lifted. At the same time, she praised the expansion of short-time work regulations during the pandemic.