Interim supplement paid to unemployed construction workers prior to retirement
On 1 January 2014, a new area was created in the Construction Workers’ Annual Leave and Severance Pay Fund [Bauarbeiter-Urlaubs- und Abfertigungskasse] (BUAK) for the interim supplement paid to unemployed construction workers prior to retirement.
For the social partners working in the construction industry, the goal was to provide construction workers who have worked in construction for many years and cannot continue working up until retirement age (old age, manual labour and “corridor pension”) with advance protection in the form of an interim supplement for the period of unemployment up to retirement age.
Construction workers should therefore be able to transition directly from their professional lives to a pension by claiming an interim supplement pursuant to BUAG.
While an interim supplement is being paid, periods of employment for purposes of severance pay are earned pursuant to BUAG, and contribution periods and entitlements to payments are earned pursuant to BMSVG.
If an employee fulfils all the claim requirements for the interim supplement but does not use it (in full), and remains in employment subject to BUAG, they and their employer subject to BUAG receive a bonus in the form of an interim settlement when the employee retires, provided it is applied for.
A combination of the interim settlement and the interim supplement is possible by not applying for the interim supplement for the maximum time possible, and instead working for the remaining time in an employment relationship subject to BUAG.
The interim settlement can be claimed for/by employees born in or after 1957.