Adam, Georg
New liability rules to tackle ‘social fraud’ in construction
19 november 2009
In recent years, the Austrian legislator has endorsed a series of laws
seeking to tackle the problem of social security [1] fraud in companies –
particularly in the construction sector. For instance, on 1 March 2005, the
Social Fraud Bill (/Sozialbetrugsgesetz/, SozBeG) came into effect, which
extended the legal provisions of criminal law concerning organised tax and
social fraud (*AT0506201N* [2]). Moreover, in 2007, a legal obligation was
introduced for employers to register their employees with the relevant social
insurance institutions before the commencement of work. This legal initiative
sought to combat fraudulent practices in companies, whereby employers had
failed to register some of their staff in time for the sole purpose of
evading taxes and social insurance contributions (*AT0705019I* [3]).
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/social-security
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/building-industry-and-social-partners-call-for-stricter-social-fraud-bill
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/social-partners-agree-on-measures-to-combat-social-security-fraud
Parliament passes labour market stimulation package
30 augusti 2009
On 9 July 2009, the Austrian parliament endorsed a package of measures
designed to stimulate the national labour market. The measures follow a
labour market package introduced in early 2009, which had failed to generate
the desired effects. The latest measures aim to prevent a rise in
unemployment due to the current economic downturn. This legal initiative was
launched by the current social-democratic and conservative coalition
government, in close cooperation with the core social partner organisations.
ÖGB general congress adopts new policy programme
18 augusti 2009
From 30 June to 2 July 2009, the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [1]) held its 17th general
congress (/Bundeskongress/) – the ÖGB’s highest governing body – in
Austria’s capital city Vienna. At this event, the federation adopted the
continuation of an internal restructuring [2] process launched at the last
congress in 2007. Restructuring had become necessary in the wake of the
conflict related to the financial disaster concerning the Bank for Employment
and Commerce (Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft AG, BAWAG [3]) and the former
ÖGB leadership’s involvement in this controversy (*AT0703039I* [4]).
[1] http://www.oegb.at/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=OEGBZ/Page/OEGBZ_Index&n=OEGBZ_0
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/restructuring
[3] http://www.bawagpsk.com/bawag/home/nav.html
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/union-seeks-greater-autonomy-from-confederation
Economic downturn worsens climate of spring bargaining round
27 juli 2009
With some delay, compared to most other highly industrialised European
countries, the global recession has also spread to Austria since the
beginning of 2009. According to the country’s most recognised research
institutes in economics, Austria’s economic slowdown is expected to fall
between minus 2.2% and minus 2.7% in 2009, and the year’s overall inflation
rate is estimated to be between 0.6% and 0.9%. The business segment most
affected by the current crisis is the exposed industry sector.
Significant losses for Social Democrats in Chamber of Labour elections
20 juli 2009
During the spring of 2009, the five-yearly round of elections of
representatives on the governing bodies of the Chambers of Labour
(Arbeiterkammern, AK [1]) took place. The structure and function of the AK as
well as the election results are briefly outlined below.
[1] http://www.arbeiterkammer.at/beratung.htm
Short-time working rules amended
14 juni 2009
Against the background of the current global economic recession, which has
also substantially hit Austria, many companies facing financial difficulties
have initiated restructuring [1] measures. As a consequence, a still growing
number of businesses have closed or reduced their scale of operations,
resulting in numerous job losses. According to the most recent data provided
by the Labour Market Service (Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS [2]), in April 2009
the overall unemployment rate increased by 1.4 percentage points compared
with the previous year (according to the national mode of count).
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/restructuring
[2] http://www.ams.or.at/
Social partners differ over ways to bridge gender pay gap
31 maj 2009
On 3 March 2009, a few days ahead of the International Women’s Day
celebrated annually on 8 March, the EU Commissioner for Employment, Social
Affairs and Equal Opportunities, Vladimír Špidla, presented, at a kick-off
event in Brussels, a new EU information campaign labelled Close the gender
pay gap [1]. In this context, the most recent gender pay [2] gap data for
each EU country were released, indicating an estimated gap in earnings of
25.5% for Austria in 2007. This is the second highest value of all EU Member
States, which is only outweighed by Estonia with an approximate 30% pay gap,
while the EU average is estimated at 17.4%.
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=681&langId=en
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/pay
New monthly minimum wage for private sector
13 april 2009
In July 2007, the then presidents of the Austrian Trade Union Federation
(Österreichischer Gewerkschaftsbund, ÖGB [1]) and the Austrian Federal
Economic Chamber (Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, WKO [2]) signed a so-called
‘agreement in principle’. Accordingly, a nationwide minimum monthly gross
wage rate of €1,000 for full-time employment was to be introduced by 1
January 2009 at the latest. The explicit aim of this initiative was to urge
the responsible bargaining units at sectoral and branch level to secure such
minimum pay standards across all sectors of the national economy for all pay
grades through sector or branch-level collective agreements.
[1] http://www.oegb.at/
[2] http://portal.wko.at/wk/startseite.wk
Metalworking and chemical workers’ unions to merge
01 april 2009
On 22 January 2009, the respective federal executive boards
(/Bundesvorstände/) of the Metalworking, Textiles, Agriculture and
Food-processing Union (Gewerkschaft Metall- Textil-Nahrung, GMTN [1]) and the
Union of Chemical Workers (Gewerkschaft der Chemiearbeiter, GdC [2])
announced their decision to merge the two organisations. In formal terms, the
merger process is scheduled for 25–27 November 2009, when the two trade
unions will hold their last separate congresses (/Gewerkschaftstage/) and
subsequently the first joint congress. They will formally finalise the
establishment of the new trade union organisation at this joint congress. The
new union will be called the Production Trade Union (Produktionsgewerkschaft,
pro.ge).
[1] http://www.gmtn.at
[2] http://www1.oegb.or.at/chemie/
Childcare benefit scheme to be amended again
22 februari 2009
Only a year after the last amendment to the childcare benefit scheme
(/Kinderbetreuungsgeld/), which came into effect on 1 January 2008, the newly
formed coalition government of the Social Democratic Party
(Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, SPÖ [1]) and the conservative
People’s Party (Österreichische Volkspartei, ÖVP [2]) agreed to modify
the scheme again. The aim is to render the scheme more attractive to men and
women with a higher income, in that financial compensation for taking
parental leave [3] should be increased in exchange for a shorter period of
leave. More precisely, the current flat-rate scheme is planned to be extended
by an income-related option.
[1] http://www.spoe.at/
[2] http://www.oevp.at/
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/parental-leave