Coronavirus: Support measures for the Basel-Stadt economy - current status

Many applications for financial support because of the COVID-19 measures have been submitted and are being processed by the competent departments.

The Office of Economy and Labour (AWA) has so far received around 5,000 advance notifications of short-time working. Around 4,900 of these advance notifications have been processed and corresponding authorisations issued. After receiving this reply, businesses have three months to claim the payment from their Unemployment Insurance Fund by means of an application for short-time working compensation. The Public Unemployment Insurance Fund has so far paid out short-time working compensation amounting to just under 76 million francs.

In addition, the Basel-Stadt compensation office [Ausgleichskasse] has received 5,505 applications for compensation for loss of earnings from self-employed people. It has since been possible to process 5,366 of these. With regard to the applications that have not yet been processed, documents (confirmation of daycare facility closures, medical certificates, etc.) still need to be submitted or consultation with the canton is required. The figures do not include applications submitted to compensation offices other than the cantonal compensation office Basel-Stadt.

The Canton of Basel-Stadt set up cantonal support measures for self-employed people indirectly affected by the Federal Government’s COVID-19 measures, on 1 April 2020. A good 1,100 applications have been received since the programme began. Hardly any more new applications are being made, in part because, since the decision of the Federal Council of 16 April 2020, compensation for loss of earnings through the compensation offices has been extended to apply to self-employed people who have been indirectly affected. 675 applications have been finalised, for which payments of Fr. 3,433,772.80 have been made. Queries and documents are pending for some of the applications that have not yet been processed.