Lay-off with a shorter working week

‘Lay-off with a shorter working week’ means having your employer cut your total working hours by one or more days a week. In such circumstances, you are entitled to a full earnings-related allowance for the days you do not work.

Make sure to sign up as a job-seeker with the employment authority no later than on the first day of your lay-off. The employment authority will give your unemployment fund a labour policy statement about your circumstances.

For part-time lay-offs, working hours are calculated one calendar week at a time. If you work more than 80% of your industry’s maximum working hours during a calendar week, you cannot be paid an earnings-related allowance for that calendar week.

If you work part-time for another employer or receive an income from business during a part-time lay-off, your earnings-related allowance will be adjusted to account for your income.

If your employer has you working a shorter week, you will need to fill in your earnings-related allowance application for each period of four full calendar weeks in arrears. Use the daily columns in the application form to identify days that you worked and days that you were laid off. Please enclose the following evidence of your employment with your application:

• employment contract
• lay-off notice.

We receive your salary information directly from the Incomes Register. Sometimes, however, the information reported by your employer to the Incomes Register may not be sufficient. In this case, we will ask you or your employer for additional information regarding your salary.

You can find more information about applying for an earnings-related allowance under Applying for an earnings-related allowance.