Partial wage subsidy for furloughed workers extended into May

Ljubljana – Partial wage subsidy for furloughed workers has been extended into May. This is a measure to reduce the risk of companies deciding to lay off workers as they face a reduced demand or negative shocks in productivity related to the Covid-19 epidemic, the government has said.

Under the latest legislative stimulus package, which entered into force at the beginning of February, partial wage subsidy for furloughed workers is available for the period between 1 February and 30 April 2021.

At Friday’s correspondence session, the government extended the validity of the measure until the end of May, the Government Communication Office said.

The government has assessed that the effects of the emergency measures for the labour market are encouraging, as they have limited the growth of the unemployment rate. Otherwise, the number of the unemployed would have certainly be higher, it added.

As part of the latest stimulus package, employers submitted more than 19,000 applications for partial wage subsidy for furloughed workers until 19 March for almost 65,900 employees.

Overall, they have submitted almost 140,000 applications for around 625,000 employees, with the Employment Service paying out a total of EUR 445.4 million in related compensations.

The extension into May is expected to cost the state around EUR 31.5 million, with the government estimating that around 45,000 employees will be included in the measure in that month. The average monthly subsidy per employee is EUR 700.

The post Partial wage subsidy for furloughed workers extended into May appeared first on Slovenia Times.