Bad weather periods in the construction industry regularly lead to specific questions regarding Payroll: work can be suspended due to weather conditions, continue under winter conditions or be cushioned via a Working time account.
The article explains when seasonal short-time working benefit, seasonal short-time work allowance, additional winter allowance, winter allowance subsidy and financing via Winter employment levy are to be separated from one another.
For businesses, the practical monthly logic is what matters most: hours, records, pay, Working time account and applications must align so that payroll during the winter months remains transparent.
The winter regulation describes how lost working hours and work performance during the cold season are handled. This mainly affects construction businesses and companies in the Main construction industry whose employees are deployed on weather-dependent construction sites.
In practice, it is not a matter of a single term, but rather of several cases: actual loss of working hours, work during frost or other weather conditions, hours used from the Working time account, and supplementary benefits for winter construction support.
ClassificationFor the sector, it is crucial whether an hour was lost, worked, or contributed from an account. Only from this does it follow which service or report becomes relevant in the payroll accounting.
This is how monthly processing remains traceable: the same construction site can still contain normal working hours in December, show downtime in January and run normally again in February.
Winter construction funding becomes clearer when the components remain separate. seasonal short-time work allowance concerns loss of remuneration. MWG and ZWG supplement certain hourly cases. The Bundesagentur für Arbeit or the competent Employment Agency is an important reference point for applications, proof and verification.
| Regulation | When relevant? | Typical billing reference |
|---|---|---|
| Seasonal short-time work allowance | In the event of temporary, unavoidable loss of working hours during the inclement weather period. | Downtime, target hours, pay and the application must all align. |
| MWG | For hours actually worked at a weather-dependent workplace. | Worked hours are treated differently from downtime. |
| ZWG | When credit from the Working time account is used so that no benefits are claimed. | The time account must show which hours have been worked. |
| Supplementary benefits | In certain winter cases, in addition to the actual Short-time work allowance. | Terms shaped by collective agreements and social law must be clearly assigned. |
The overview prevents a winter month from being treated as short-time working across the board. Work, bad weather and the reduction of working time accounts often occur side by side.
Seasonal short-time working is geared towards the bad weather period from December to March. It becomes relevant when there is a significant loss of working hours in the construction industry and the other requirements are met.
For seasonal short-time work allowance, an application is submitted to the relevant employment agency for each month on short-time work. The Payroll provides working hours, remuneration and absence data as well as the necessary evidence. A separate notification of the loss of working hours is not part of the regular monthly seasonal short-time allowance application. It becomes relevant if cyclical Short-time work allowance is to be applied for after the end of the bad weather period.
loss of working hoursEvery cancelled lesson requires a clear assignment to target hours, cause and time period.
Net remuneration differenceThe Short-time work allowance refers to the difference between target and actual remuneration.
First glanceFor December cases, the outlook can extend into March of the following year.
What remains important is that a construction site with less work is not yet a completed claim. Only proper documentation makes the month verifiable.
MWG and ZWG are easily confused in everyday life. However, technically they have different triggers. MWG is linked to actually worked hours. ZWG is linked to credits brought in from the Working time account.
| Situation | hour logic | Episode |
|---|---|---|
| Employees are working despite winter conditions. | Hours worked at a weather-dependent workplace. | MWG can become relevant as a separate amount. It is not a general surcharge for every winter day. |
| A shortfall is covered by credit. | Hours contributed from the time account. | ZWG can arise if it is used to avoid claiming benefits. |
| Work is actually cancelled. | Not a single hour worked, but a documented absence. | Then the seasonal short-time work logic must be checked. |
For the monthly payroll, this means that worked hours, missed hours and accrued hours must not disappear into a shared winter position.
This funding concerns certain supplementary services. The decisive factor is the connection to commercial employees and to the levy-liable Gross pay or gross remuneration.
For billing periods from 1 January 2026, the Winter employment levy in Main construction industry is 1.0 percent of the levy-liable gross earnings. The employer bears 0.6 percent, and employees bear 0.4 percent. The employer remits the entire levy amount. Therefore, the value must be included in the payroll with a clear effective date and should not be carried forward unchecked at the turn of the year.
As of July 2026The financing contribution is a separate audit item. It does not replace a complete Classification of the SOKA-BAU procedure and no review of other social security fund issues.
In practice, various sources of information converge here, such as official notices, data from SOKA-BAU and industry advice. Terms like the Central Association of the German Construction Industry may also come up during research. However, the specific billing and proof situation of the business remains decisive.
The seasonal logic becomes apparent as soon as several types of hours come together in a month. A construction company may have to report worked outdoor hours, downtime, sick days and accrued hours all at the same time.
The Construction Payroll must map these differences in a comprehensible way. Otherwise, ambiguities will arise between loss of working hours, remuneration, social security contributions and funding.
Allowances and supplements in Construction payroll follow their own allocation logic and must not be mixed with winter services.
| Theme | What businesses need to pay attention to | Why it is relevant |
|---|---|---|
| Downtime | Target hours, absences and reason must match. | Only then can the application and proof be examined. |
| Winter hours completed | Work under weather influence must be recorded separately from downtime. | It can trigger a different performance than a failure. |
| Working time account | Logged hours require a recognisable entry. | The prevention of a benefit claim must be traceable. |
| discharge | Industrial employees and gross earnings are to be distinguished. | The funding reference follows its own logic. |
The cleaner these data are during the current month, the less will need to be reconstructed later from site reports or handwritten timesheets.
Many errors occur because similar terms are mixed up in everyday life: bad weather, weather conditions, suspension of work, credit balances, application or payout.
MWG and ZWG are being confusedOne case concerns work, the other the time account. Both must be documented separately.
Job cuts remain vagueIf credit is subsequently compiled retroactively, there is often a lack of proof as to why the shortfall was covered.
Terminations are not being taken into accountWhen it comes to winter construction issues, job security plays an important role. However, employment law issues still need to be examined separately.
Records do not match the monthly logicTimesheets, absences and paid-out amounts must present a consistent picture.
Whether a measure is reasonable or unreasonable does not belong in a blanket standard posting. For billing purposes, what counts first is the clean documentation of the actual month.
The winter months become easier to manage if the components remain separate: loss of work, hours worked, time account, pay, proof and financing. For the current Payroll in the construction industry, this gives rise to a clear task: the month must be documented in such a way that the application, hourly logic and payout match one another.
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