Kurzarbeit (short-time work)

What is Kurzarbeit (short-time work)?

Kurzarbeit is a German short-time work scheme where employers reduce staff hours during a downturn instead of laying them off, and the state tops up part of the lost pay - similar schemes exist in other EU countries under different names.

It is a labour-market policy tool, used heavily in Germany during economic slowdowns, that lets a company scale hours down company-wide or for one department rather than making redundancies, with the government covering part of the wage gap for the reduced hours.

For HR the practical need is tracking reduced hours and pay per employee accurately enough to support the wage-subsidy claim and reporting, which is closely tied to payroll rather than to leave. Similar schemes run under different names elsewhere in the EU, so the mechanism is common even where the word is not.

Related terms

• Payroll
• Employment status (employment type)