Short-Time Work Allowance Calculator Germany

Short-time work compensation is 60% of the net pay difference, 67% if a child allowance is registered in your wage tax data. The difference is between the flat-rate net pay from the target pay (without short-time work) and from the actual pay; the Federal Employment Agency reads both from its table for calculating the allowance. Example from the 2026 table: tax class III with a child, target 2,500 euros, actual 1,250 euros – 1,340.00 minus 675.36 euros = 664.64 euros. The employer applies for it at the Federal Employment Agency and passes it on to employees.

Employees whose working hours are temporarily reduced for economic reasons or because of an unavoidable event. In the calendar month, at least one third of the employees in the business must lose more than 10% of their monthly gross pay (§ 96 SGB III); the lower 10% threshold for the share of employees was a temporary Covid-era rule.

You receive the net pay for the hours actually worked plus 60% (67% with a child) of the difference to your normal net pay. With working hours halved, this comes to about 83% of the flat-rate net pay, or about 86% with a child. In the calculator example with 3,500 euros target and 1,750 euros actual gross pay (tax class I, no child; the actual pay is rounded to 1,760 euros), that is 1,359.92 euros of flat-rate net pay plus 617.10 euros of short-time work compensation, together 1,977.02 euros instead of 2,388.42 euros. The compensation itself is tax-free but subject to the progression clause (Progressionsvorbehalt).