Gächter, August

In conjunction with the pension reform package which is being enacted in late 1997 (AT9711144F [1]), an entitlement for older workers to work part-time has been introduced. This complements an entitlement to a part-time pension which was introduced previously, and has now been reformed. The part-time pension was formerly available only when all the requirements for early retirement were fulfilled, but from 1998 this will no longer be necessary. It will now be sufficient to have accumulated 300 months (25 years) of pension insurance contributions, of which 108 months (9 years) must have been made within the last 15 years. The pension will vary according to the other income received. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-social-policies/pension-reform-nears-completion

Austria's current pensions reform aims to reduce the level of early retirement. However, since the late 1970s, early retirement has been serving as the main means to reduce the labour market participation rate among older workers and thus make room for younger workers who would otherwise have been unemployed. With early retirement now being squeezed, the social partners and the Government have been looking for other measures to keep the participation rate among older workers, and thus unemployment, at a relatively low level. A new device - in the Austrian context - is a greater use of part-time work, especially among men, which does not take workers off the labour market altogether but reduces their hours of presence within it. As part of this effort, the Government and the social partners agreed in November 1997 to create, by law, the so-called "solidarity premium model" (Solidaritätsprämienmodell).

Posts and Telecommunications Austria (PTA AG) was recast as a wholly state-owned joint stock company in 1996 and will be privatised in 2001. In order to prepare for the liberalised telecoms market, as well as for the public share offer, it needs to shed some of the excess employment it built up during the years of monopoly. Like other state agencies, the post office was then used politically in order to absorb some of the unemployment. Now employment is to be reduced by 9,500 staff, of whom 6,000 are immediately to be offered incentives to participate in an early retirement scheme. The snag is that all of them are legally civil servants, and the early retirement scheme required a change of law in order to be permissible within the boundaries of the employment contracts of civil servants. After a basic agreement between management and the Post and Telecoms Trade Union (Gewerkschaft der Postbediensteten) in August 1997, parliament passed the necessary legislation later in the year. The legislation applies not only to the post office but to all state agencies being made into independent companies. However, while there are only about 3,000 federal civil servants employed in five other new companies, PTA AG employs 42,000 (out of a total of 57,600 employees at the end of 1996).

The Government and the social partners have agreed to make exceptions from Austria's ban on women's night work, with the result that from 1 January 1998 collective agreements may permit women to be employed between 22.00 and 06.00. The deal still needs to be ratified by Parliament.

In Austria, there is a legal entitlement to early retirement when a person: has drawn unemployment benefits for at least 12 of the last 15 months; is aged over 55 years (women) or over 60 (men); and has accumulated at least 180 months (15 years) of contributions to the pension insurance scheme. At least 120 of the 180 months of contributions have to derive from actual employment, while the remainder may derive from periods of child-rearing of up to 48 months per child. The pension entitlement lapses if new employment is entered into.

In accordance with the 1994 Employee Protection Act (Arbeitnehmerschutzgesetz, ASchG), the Government recently drafted a Workplace Directive (Arbeitsstättenverordnung) to replace parts of the older General Employee Protection Directive (Allgemeine Arbeitnehmerschutzverordnung). During consultations which ended in September 1997, trade unions and the Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer, AK) have issued formal statements to the Government strictly rejecting the proposed new directive.

Recently released income data from social security files show the income gap between men and women to have widened in 1996. The median gross income per month stood at ATS 27,131 for men and ATS 18,868 for women - the difference being 44%, compared with a gap of 43% in 1995. The overall median had risen from ATS 23,265 to ATS 23,848, an increase of 2.5%. The data are not adjusted for differences in working time, and the 25% share of part-time workers in the female workforce, as opposed to 2% among males, thus pushes the median down. Assuming there was no noticeable change in the proportions of part-timers, the widening of the reported gap does, however, indicate a real development. Among public servants, where part-time work is less likely because it is less available - and where there is a heavy male "overhang" in the relatively poorly-paid police force while there is a female overhang among the better-paid teachers - the median for women stood at ATS 30,532 as opposed to only ATS 28,295 for men.

In April 1997, Austrian lawmakers went beyond the EU Directive on the protection of young workers (94/33/EC of 22 June 1994) and legislated for a weekly rest period for young workers of 48 consecutive hours including a Sunday. In industries processing fresh food, especially bakers, pastry makers, butchers and dairies, this quickly proved unfeasible. In these cases, Saturdays and Mondays are the busiest days of the week. The issue became intertwined with the current shortage of apprenticeship positions (AT9706116F [1]) and involved the Austrian Trade Union Federation (Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB) and the Chamber of the Economy (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKÖ) in acrimonious public exchanges. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/working-conditions-undefined-labour-market/tackling-the-apprenticeships-crisis

The 1997 round of collective bargaining over wages and salaries in industrial enterprises in the metalworking sector achieved an early success on 7 October 1997, when employers finally agreed to the working time model thrashed out last winter (AT9704110N [1]). It now takes effect from 1 November 1997, six months later than originally planned. [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/impasse-in-metalworking

From 1 January 1998, a new statutory educational leave scheme will come into effect. Every three years employees will be able to take six to 12 months off and receive benefits equal to those paid during parental leave. In 1997, these stand at a net ATS 185.50 per day or ATS 5,565 per month. An additional 40% of this amount will go to social insurance. The benefits are paid by the Public Employment Service (Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS) which may increase them, if the training or education planned is deemed particularly beneficial. The AMS's main source of income is unemployment insurance contributions. Participants in the scheme will formally remain employed, and the employer's social security contributions will be reimbursed by the AMS.