The subsidies were introduced with the first stimulus package, which also provided full state coverage of unemployment allowances, amounting to 80% of the usual wage.

The state-covered social contributions, available since 13 March and in place until the end of June, were used by around 24,000 employers for roughly 110,000 workers in March, while the numbers, which are still preliminary, rose to 26,000 and 161,000 respectively in April.

The covered pension contributions were also among the first measures and were provided to companies for workers who continued working provided the employer secured a monthly crisis bonus of EUR 200.

The measures was used in March by roughly 48,000 companies for 445,000 workers and April by 40,000 employers for 388,000 workers.

The state moreover covered the social contributions of self-employed workers who were unable to perform their work during the epidemic or suffered sustainable damage because of it. The data on these subsidies is not in yet.

The state has extended the coverage of social contributions by a month, meaning until the end of June, while the government expects employers to switch by then to the subsidised short-time work scheme, which has been provided with the third stimulus package.