The following was published in the so-called "Fachliche Weisungen" of the Federal Employment Agency as of 01.01.2021:
- Complete holiday planning for the entire holiday year 2021 is required for all employees. The decisive factor here is how the handling of residual leave from the previous year is regulated in the employment or collective agreement. Employees' holiday wishes should be taken into account in any case in order to avoid increased absenteeism.
- If an employee has to go into quarantine, quarantine and short-time work may overlap. It is important to note here that no double compensation is drawn for this period. In such a case, the Federal Employment Agency must be informed. This can be submitted informally with the KUG statement.
- Entitlement to short-time allowance on Sundays and public holidays only exists if the employee concerned would have to work regularly on these days and this can be proven by means of a duty roster or shift schedule. Furthermore, special payments such as holiday and Christmas bonuses are taken into account in the short-time allowance if the amount is not paid as a one-off payment but is distributed monthly throughout the year.
- The control of short-time work benefits is tightened. The employment agency may insist on detailed evidence such as a list of actual and target hours.
- If you have registered for short-time work, social security contributions will be paid in full until the end of the second quarter. From 01.07.2021 onwards, the payment will be reduced to 50%.
- The period of entitlement to KUG has been extended to a maximum of 24 months and the increased KUG rate from 70% to 77% and from 80% to 87% will remain valid until 31 December 2021.
You can find many more regulations and information directly at the Federal Employment Agency:
https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/veroeffentlichungen/weisungen
https://www.arbeitsagentur.de/datei/weisung-202012024_ba146805.pdf