Berlin (dpa) - Industry and craft have asked the federal government to expand the regulations on short-time work benefits in the corona crisis as quickly as possible to apprentices.
Otherwise, companies in the crisis would see themselves forced to dismiss their trainees. Craftsman President Hans Peter Wollseifer told the "Welt am Sonntag": "We urgently need to avoid that companies that are severely affected by the crisis have no choice but to end their apprenticeships."
The Deputy General Manager of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), Achim Dercks, demanded that companies in the crisis "should be able to receive short-time work benefits for trainees from day one".
Short-time work allowance can flow in the Corona crisis when ten percent of the workforce is affected by the loss of work. The government assumes that it will have to pay short-term economic benefits in 2.15 million cases. The Federal Employment Agency pays 60 percent of the wages and 67 percent of those with children. The companies are reimbursed for social contributions.
The approximately 1.3 million apprentices in Germany have so far been exempt from this regulation. According to the Federal Training Act, companies must continue to pay the full training allowance for six weeks even without work.
