Winter loss allowance
Winter compensation money was from 1996 to the end of March 2006 in Germany, one benefit of the Labor Office or the Employment Agency as part of the winter construction in the construction of industrial workers in companies in the construction industry and the horticulture and landscaping to compensate for weather-related wage losses.
The winter loss allowance was paid in the statutory bad weather period (November 1 to March 31) from the 101st hour of absence due to weather conditions. The precondition was the so-called winter loss advance payment. For the construction industry, this meant that employers had to pay wages for the first 100 hours of absence, whereby the wages for the first 30 hours of absence were financed by the employees by bringing in vacation or a corresponding time credit. The advance winter loss benefit and the elimination of the obligation to pay wages from the 101st hour of absence were also regulated by the parties to the collective bargaining agreement in generally binding collective agreements.
The winter loss allowance was financed from contributions to the Federal Employment Agency. By partially relieving employers of the wage payment risk in the event of weather-related lost work, weather-related dismissals should be avoided.
The winter loss allowance was abolished on April 1, 2006. With the law for the promotion of year-round employment of April 24, 2006, the seasonal short-time work allowance was introduced instead . Before the introduction of the winter cancellation allowance, there was the bad weather allowance.
Tax treatment
The winter loss allowance was tax-free ( § 3 EStG), but was subject to the tax progression proviso .
