Background information

Self-employed people with a disability have been entitled to a specific "bridging subsidy" in the amount of €267 per month (equalisation tax, amount for 2020), long before the Corona crisis hit the country. This support is available to self-employed people with a degree of disability of at least 50%.

Content of measure

The subsidy applies to disabled persons who are either self-employed in companies with a maximum of five employees at the time of application or are mainly active themselves (sole proprietors) and who can demonstrate a disability-related additional expenditure, which represents a significant burden for entrepreneurial activity.

In the face of the COVID-19 crisis, the subsidy was slightly amended: The need to demonstrate the need for the subsidy due to disability-related expenses has been omitted. The bridging subsidy is available to disabled persons whose employment is threatened by the Corona pandemic, even without proof of disability needs. This applies to applications submitted until 30 June 2020 for a period of three months. The amount received per month is at €267.

Use of measure

Unknown.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Self-employed Disabled workers	Solo-self-employed One person or microenterprises	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

The social partners' involvement is unknown.

Views and reactions

No views on or reactions to the measure by the social partners could be identified.

Sources

• 05 October 2020: Bridging allowance for the self-employed (www.sozialministeriumservice.at)
• 08 April 2021: Bridging grant update (sozialministeriumservice.at)