The Winter Employment Surcharge is a statutory levy in certain branches of the construction industry. It serves in particular to finance supplementary benefits to promote year-round employment in the winter months. The legal bases are §§ 354 et seq. of the Social Security Code III (SGB III) and the Winter Employment Ordinance.
What does the Winter employment levy fund?
The Winter employment levy is used to finance supplementary benefits pursuant to Section 102 of the Third Book of the Social Code (SGB III) as well as associated costs.
These additional services include, in particular:
- Winter construction allowance,
- extra winter allowance and
- reimbursement under statutory conditions of the Social security contributions to be borne by the employer for recipients of seasonal short-time work allowance.
Important: The Seasonal short-time work allowance itself is not financed from the Winter employment levy. The levy finances the supplementary benefits.
What areas does the Winter employment levy apply to?
The Winter Employment Ordinance provides for the levy for certain economic sectors affected by seasonal work stoppages.
This includes, in particular, certain businesses in the construction industry as well as the roofing trade, the scaffolding trade, and gardening and landscaping. The amount and allocation of the levy may vary depending on the economic sector.
What is the Winter employment levy based on?
The Winter employment levy is generally levied on the basis of the levy-liable gross earnings of the registered commercial employees.
Which wage components belong to the levy-liable assessment basis or are exempt from it is determined in particular by the Winter Employment Ordinance.
What role does SOKA-BAU play?
In Main construction industry, the Winter employment levy is paid via the responsible collection agency. SOKA-BAU collects the levy on behalf of Bundesagentur für Arbeit.
However, the Winter employment levy is not part of the social fund contribution. Social security contributions and Winter employment levy are legally distinct from one another.
Winter employment levy and seasonal short-time work allowance – what is the difference?
The seasonal short-time work allowance is an employment promotion benefit provided for specific seasonal work stoppages.
The Winter employment levy, on the other hand, is a financing levy used to fund additional services alongside the seasonal short-time work allowance.
In short: seasonal short-time work allowance is a service – the Winter employment levy funds certain supplementary winter services.
Winter regulations in the construction industry
The Winter employment levy is part of a larger system to promote year-round employment in the construction industry. We explain seasonal short-time work allowance, winter allowance and further connections in the financial guide. Winter construction rules.
