At the end of the year, many employers pay out Christmas bonuses.
Does the one-off special payment play a role in the calculation of the short-time allowance?
The employment agency explains the situation.
Update from November 9th, 2020:
Many employers pay
Christmas bonuses
at the end of the year
*
out.
The
Federal Employment Agency
clarifies
in connection with
short-time work
in a message on its website: "The
one-time special payment
can
not be taken into account
when
calculating the short-time work allowance
."
Employment agency: No reimbursement of the Christmas bonus as short-time allowance possible
According to the Federal Employment Agency,
short-time work
benefits are calculated from the difference between the target pay and the actual pay, "that is, between what the employees should earn and what they actually earn".
Her conclusion: "
One-off payment, such as Christmas bonus or vacation bonus, cannot be taken into account when calculating the target and actual remuneration
." And, the message goes on to say: "Because the Christmas bonus is calculated of the short-time work allowance cannot be taken into account, no social security contributions can be reimbursed. "
The Employment Agency also points out that "the
vacation entitlement
for the current calendar year 2020
must be submitted by employees on short-time work by December 31, 2020."
Also read
: In times of Corona: Should the Christmas bonus be abolished in 2020?
What happens to the Christmas bonus in the corona crisis?
Article from 16.09.2020:
Not everyone gets it - if they do,
employees can
look forward to the
Christmas bonus
*.
However, especially in
times of Corona
, many employees wonder whether their Christmas bonus could possibly be waived this year.
One thing is
certain: the
13th salary
is a gladly accepted performance for many employees to which they have already got used.
But is there an
entitlement
to the
additional
financial
benefit
?
Legal experts say: There is no
statutory right to a Christmas bonus.
However, regulations on the Christmas bonus could be stipulated in a collective agreement or employment contract, or in a works agreement.
In other words: What matters is what has been agreed beforehand.
According to experts, there is only a claim to Christmas bonus if this has been regulated somewhere in advance.
Read here
:
Will the vacation pay break away in the Corona crisis?
Study delivers alarming results
Eligibility for Christmas bonus?
Employee can exclude operational exercise
In some cases, the so-called
operational exercise
could also result in
a claim, as also stated in a report by the German Press Agency on the subject.
The prerequisite for this is that an employer
pays
all
employees
Christmas bonuses for
at least three consecutive years
.
In the fourth year, employees could theoretically claim their right to the 13th salary.
In practice, however, it often looks different.
Because employers could also rule this out in advance.
In turn, this means for employees that they do not have this option.
You can also read:
Top salaries in 2020: These professions have the most money
Such a so-called
voluntary
reservation can be
declared in writing
not only in the
employment contract
, but also with the respective payment by the employer, according to an article on "Karrierebibel.de".
In this case, could the Christmas bonus be omitted?
It depends on what has been agreed, explains specialist lawyer for labor law Peter Groll in the article.
The right to Christmas bonus can be excluded in collective agreements if, for example, the employee is already in a terminated employment relationship at the time of payment.
In employment contracts, however, it is not so easy because they are subject to special legal control - which means that many clauses are ineffective.
For further reading
: 13th monthly salary or Christmas bonus: Is everyone entitled to it?
Can individual people be excluded from the Christmas bonus?
The company also needs special
objective reasons
to exclude certain employees from the Christmas bonus, as the expert also explains in the article.
This could be, for example, executives with a higher salary or field workers with performance-related pay.
It is also possible to link the Christmas bonus to a certain length of service.
A refusal to pay, for example because of age, gender or severe disability, is discriminatory and therefore inadmissible.
(ahu) * merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editorial network.
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Sources: dpa, Karrierbibel.de
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