Kurzarbeit 2022: State support for those who reduce working time continues to apply

One of the beneficial measures for employers during the pandemic period, which can shorten the working hours of employees, will be extended in the coming months.

In the context of the uncertainty created by the pandemic, many employers have been in a position to reduce staff or reduce employee working hours.

One of the measures which was genuinely supportive of employers during this period, also known as Kurzarbeit, is that through which employers receive financial support from the State, in the idea of keeping employees and not making staff cuts due to a decrease in turnover. The measure allows for a reduction of the working time of all or part of the employees.

Kurzarbeit was last year one of the main types of government aid to firms – in fact, it was the only one that was granted throughout the year.
The Kurzarbeit settlement mechanism was regulated to apply for three months after the end of the alert state. At present, we have no discussion on the part of the Government about its amendment in the near future or its termination.

All we know now is that, according to OUG No 132/2020 (settlement Act), the mechanism will continue “for a period of up to 3 months from the date of the end of the last period of emergency/alert/siege”. Given that Romania continues to be on alert state at this point, that is, for the moment, we do not know when this will end, the only thing we can definitely say is that in the coming months of 2022, we will also be able to apply the Kurzarbeit mechanism.

More details about the Kurzareit system can be found here.