Increased financial support for employers from "Kurzarbeit" scheme

The Government of the Slovak Republic, by Resolution No. 613/2022 of 5 October 2022, released an additional EUR 5 million for the purpose of providing support during short-time working for the year 2022 on the proposal of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter referred to as the "Ministry of Labour").

As a result of the military conflict in Ukraine and its consequences, some employers are unable to allocate work to their employees to the full extent. They are therefore making use of the short-time working system and requesting financial assistance.

According to information from the Ministry of Labour, the Labour, Social Affairs and Family Directorate has already supported 235 applicants with EUR 19 444 995.57 for the months of March to August, which is used to preserve almost 76 000 jobs. Around 60 more applications are in the process of being approved, with support for almost 4 000 jobs.

Of the original budget for 2022 of EUR 20 million, thanks to the extensive support, only a balance of approximately EUR 1 million is available as of 23.8.2022. For this reason, the additional increase had to be decided by the Government of the Slovak Republic, which is entitled to increase the original budget on the basis of Section 12(2) of the Act No. 215/2021 Coll. on support in times of short-time working and on amending and supplementing certain acts, as amended.