Short-time work: what happens to the working time account first
Short-time work allowance requires a substantial loss of work that is unavoidable. It is only unavoidable once the working time credit available at the business has been run down. Certain credits are protected from that, for instance those for partial retirement and up to ten percent of the annual working time as a protective threshold.
As of:September 2026
The loss of work has to be unavoidable
Short-time work allowance is available under sections 95 to 109 SGB III where there is a substantial, temporary and unavoidable loss of work. Under section 96(4) SGB III it is not unavoidable as long as it can be prevented wholly or partly by granting leave or by releasing working time credit.
In practice that means the hours account is emptied before short-time work allowance flows. So the balance at the business decides when the benefit starts at all, and an account nobody keeps cleanly is a real risk at this point.
Which credits are protected
Not every credit has to be run down. Section 96(4) sentence 2 SGB III names the exceptions; the most important in practice are these.
- Credit contractually earmarked for a particular use, for instance for release from work, qualification or partial retirement.
- Credit older than one year.
- Credit up to ten percent of the annual working time owed excluding overtime.
- Credit intended exclusively to offset seasonal losses of work.
- Nobody has to build up a negative time account: requiring negative hours is not provided for.
Knowing the rules is one thing, keeping to them day to day another. MetronHR checks breaks, rest periods and maximum working time automatically as time is recorded.
What has to be recorded
Settling the short-time work allowance requires the target and the actual working time for every person and every accounting month. The Federal Employment Agency checks that afterwards, on the basis of the business's working time records.
Anyone who in that situation submits paper timesheets or a spreadsheet that can be changed afterwards has a problem of proof. Recording with a traceable change history takes care of this point by itself.
The documents have to be kept; the agency can object to the settlement years later as part of the final audit and reclaim benefits paid.
Further reading:Sections 95, 96 and 98 SGB III · Technical instructions of the Federal Employment Agency on short-time work allowance
This is not legal advice; for a specific case at your workplace you are better off asking someone qualified to give it.
Published by: AMNAU GmbH
Editorial responsibility: Ugur Aydogan, Product development.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Frequently asked questions
What we are asked about this most often.
Yes, in so far as it is not protected. Under section 96(4) SGB III a loss of work is not unavoidable as long as it can be prevented by releasing working time credit. Protected credit includes credit older than a year and up to ten percent of the annual working time.
Remaining leave from the previous year generally has to be brought in, unless overriding leave wishes stand against it. For the current year's leave entitlement, what matters is whether leave planning already exists; leave already fixed remains untouched.
No. The working time lost is replaced by the short-time work allowance and is not carried as a negative on the time account. An account booking the lost time as a negative settles the same hour twice.
For every person affected and every accounting month, the target and the actual working time, traceably and verifiable after the fact. The Federal Employment Agency checks the settlement; where records are missing, reclaims are possible.
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