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04/14/20

Short-time work accounting

In this article we explain how to fill in the application for short-time working and give you step-by-step instructions.


Disclaimer

At present, forms and regulations are changing daily. We stay on the ball for you and process the information to the best of our knowledge, but we do not assume any guarantee and disclaim any liability.


The form, which is identical throughout Switzerland, can be used for short-time work accounting. It must be submitted monthly and no later than three months after the end of the month.

Accounting form

Entering the master data

In point 1) you must fill in your address and in point 2) you must fill in the unemployment insurance fund which you mentioned in the pre-registration under point 7) in the pre-registration. There is only the public unemployment insurance fund, Unia or Synia. The benefits of all three funds are the same. A subsequent change is no longer possible.

If you have not registered for short-time working for the whole company, but rather only for one department, you must enter the registered company department in point 3) in the same way as for the registration. Otherwise, you can leave this field blank.

The BUR number required in point 4 can be found in the authorisation for short-time working that you received from the canton. If you have not yet received it, you can send a request to infobur(a)bfs.admin.ch, and you will be provided with a BUR number.

The following two points 5) and 6) comprise of your contact details.

In point 8) you have to enter the accounting month. Please note that you will always be billed for a whole month, even if the short-time working did not last the whole month. You must claim short-time working no later than three months after the end of the month.

Eligible employees

In point 9), enter the number of eligible employees, irrespective of whether they worked short-time in the accounting month or not. In point 10), the number of employees who have worked short-time during the month indicated in point 8) must be entered. This number can be smaller, but not larger than the value in point 9).

It is possible that the guidelines were different when you submitted your pre-registration and that you did not enter the correct number of persons. This does not matter and you can now enter the correct data or number of employees.

Employees for whom an entitlement exists (point 9)

  • have completed compulsory education
  • have not yet reached the OASI retirement age
  • are in an employment relationship without notice of termination
  • Employees with a fixed-term employment relationship
  • apprentices
  • persons in the service of an organisation for temporary work
  • persons in a quasi-employer position (owners) and their assisting spouses
  • The entitlement to short-time working compensation has been extended by the Federal Council to persons at particular risk (high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, cancer and diseases that weaken the immune system).
  • Persons who have been quarantined as a result of the coronavirus.
  • Workers on call, provided they have been employed by the same company for at least six months.

Employees for whom no short-time working compensation is paid and who may not be included in point 9) or point 10):

  • persons who have given or received notice of termination of employment
  • persons who have reached retirement age
  • persons who do not agree to short-time working
  • self-employed persons

Important changes

As of 31 May 2020,

  • entitlement to short-time working compensation will cease for apprentices as well as for persons in a position similar to that of an employer;

Target and lost hours

In point 11), the sum of all target hours for the month indicated in point 8) of all employees from point 9) must be entered. The target hours for the entire month must be entered and not only for the duration of the short-time work. In the case of apprentices, lessons at vocational school do not count towards the target hours. If employees are absent due to holidays, maternity, illness or accident, the target hours are not to be reduced.

The total of all hours (lost hours) which the employees indicated under point 9) could not work due to the measures must be entered under point 12). It should be noted that the Federal Council has retroactively abolished the pre-registration, and the principle of the postmark of the pre-registration = start of short-time work applies. This also applies retroactively and should be noted if you submitted the pre-registration before the measures were announced. Important reform from 14 April 2020: In Seco Directive No. 6, the unemployment insurance funds are instructed to pay out short-time working compensation as early as 17 March 2020 for all companies that had to close due to the official measures and submitted the application for short-time working before 31 March 2020(date of receipt/ postmark ).

Point 13) specifies the percentage ratio between point 11) and point 12). Short-time working compensation is only paid if the lost hours are more than 10% in percentage terms.

Loss of earnings

In point 14) the sum of the monthly earnings of all persons from point 9) must be inserted. Note that the total monthly earnings must be inserted even if the duration of the short-time working may be shorter. For owners and their spouses, a flat rate of CHF 4,150 is to be taken into account, even if they earn less under certain circumstances. For all other employees, the maximum wage is limited to CHF 12,350. If a 13th month’s salary or a bonus is paid later in the year, the pro rata share must already be taken into account.

In the case of hourly-paid employees, the monthly earnings shall correspond to the target hours for the month specified in point 8) multiplied by the hourly wage including holiday and public holiday pay and the share of the 13th month’s wage.

The remaining points 15) to 18) are calculated automatically. The amount given in point 18) corresponds to the short-time working compensation, which is paid to the employer.

Enclosures

For each canton, different enclosures must be submitted alongside the application. Find out which documents are required in your canton on the website of the office responsible for you. In the canton of Berne, for example, the personal data sheet must also be submitted when submitting the application for the first time or in the event of changes.

For points 9)-12) and point 14), enclosures or supporting documents must be provided for each canton to substantiate the values. It is best to prepare a list or Excel spreadsheet with names, dates of birth, SV number, monthly earnings, target and lost hours and corresponding payroll journals. The consent of the employees should also not be forgotten.