Labour Law

• In General
  

The provisions of labour legislation in Austria are contained in a number of individual acts and ordinances.
 
A labour contract, which may be either written or verbal in form, provides the basis for every employment relationship. Certain minimal requirements for this relation-ship are contained in collective bargaining agreements. These are written agreements signed between representatives of employers on the one hand and of employees on the other. In addition, agreements relating to an individual plant or firm may be signed between the owner and an employees council.
 
Salary payments in Austria are made at least 14 times per annum. The 13th payment is made at the end of June and the 14th at the end of November.
 
Each worker has vacation rights of a minimum of 30 working days per working year, i.e. at least five weeks. There are also provisions covering the continued payment of salary during illness. Thus a employee continues to receive full reimbursement during a period of illness for a minimum of six weeks and a maximum of 12, depending on the period of service, and is then entitled to half-pay for a further four weeks.
 
The employer-employee relationship can be dissolved by either through notice of termination. A notice of one month is required from the employee. Termination by the employer requires at least six weeks notice, and this extends up to a maximum of five months, depending on the length of service. Shorter termination periods for manual workers are covered in the collective bargaining agreements. In the case of a grave offence on the part of the employee there is the possibility of summary dismissal, which results in the loss of entitlement to a termination allowance. Should the employee provide evidence of sufficient cause for doing so, he or she may prematurely dissolve the relationship, in which case the entitlement to a termination allowance remains.
 

• Social Security

The cost of the legally required social insurance is borne by employees as well as employers. The share of each is composed of numerous components. In total, the employee bears 18.2% of the cost and the employer 24.4%, or 42.6% together, in the case of a manual worker. The sum in relation to a salaried employee is slightly less.
 

• Other Non-wage Labour Costs

In addition to the costs of social security, the employer must pay certain other costs that are dependent on the level of gross salaries and wages involved, and which amount to 8% in all.