New rules for statements of terms and conditions of employment adopted
On 28 February 2024, the National Council adopted legislation to implement a number of changes to employment law in line with the EU Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions (for our latest related report, dated 21 February 2024, please refer to this blog post from december 2023).
The amendments came into force on 28 March 2024 (Federal Law Gazette I No. 11/2024).
The good news is that the new rules only apply to new employment relationships concluded after this date.
Below, please find an overview of changes regarding the statements of terms and conditions of employment concerning genuine and quasi-freelance employment relationships (Sec. 1164a of the Civil Code/ABGB, Sec. 2 of the Employment Contract Law adaption Act/AVRAG).
New mandatory information to be included for genuine employees is markedin red:
1. Name and address of the employer
2. Name and address of the employee
3. Commencement of the employment relationship
4. In case of fixed-term employment relationships, the end of the employment relationship
5. Duration of the notice period, date of cancellation, reference to the notice procedure to be followed
6. Usual place of work (deployment); if necessary, reference to changing places of work (deployment), registered office of the company
7. Categorisation in a general scheme, if applicable
8. Intended job assignment and brief description of the work to be performed
9. The basic salary or wage amount, other remuneration components such as holiday and Christmas pay, overtime pay if applicable, due date and method of payment of remuneration,
10. Extent of the annual paid leave,
11. The agreed normal daily or weekly working hours of the employee, unless the employment relationship is subject to the Caretaker Act/HbG, Federal Law Gazette No. 16/1970, and, if applicable, information about the conditions for changing shift schedules, and
12. Designation of standards governed by collective forms of shaping law as may be applicable to the employment contract (collective agreements, staff regulations, minimum wage scales, apprentices’ fixed remuneration, works agreements), including reference to the room on the company premises where these are available for inspection,
13. Name and address of the employee's social insurance institution and company pension fund (BV-Kasse) or, for employees subject to the Construction Workers' Leave and Severance Pay Act/BUAG, Federal Law Gazette No. 414/1972, the name and address of the Construction Workers' Leave and Severance Pay Fund,
14. Duration and conditions of any agreed trial period,
15. If applicable, entitlement to continuing education/further training to be provided by the employer.
Items 14 and 15 may, however, also be covered by reference to the statutory or collective agreement provisions.
If the genuine employee is expected to be abroad for more than one month, s/he must be informed of the following in writing before his/her departure (new entries in red):
1. The country in which the work is to be performed and its expected duration,
2. The currency in which remuneration is to be paid,
3. If necessary, conditions for the employee’s return to Austria and
4. Any additional remuneration for work abroad as may apply, including higher minimum pay in accordance with the pay-related legislation of the country in which the work is performed,
5. Any reimbursement of expenses as may apply in accordance with related Austrian legislation and the legislation of the country in which the work is performed,
6. Reference to the website of the country in which the work is performed, in accordance with Art. 5 (2) of Directive 2014/67/EU on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System, OJ No L 159, 28/05/2014, p. 11.
New mandatory information to be included for quasi-freelancers is marked in red:
1. Name and address of the employer, registered office of the company
2. Name and address of the quasi-freelancer,
3. Start of the quasi-freelance employment relationship,
4. In case of fixed-term quasi-freelance employment, the end of the quasi-freelance employment,
5. Duration of the notice period, date of termination,
6. Intended work and a brief job description,
7. Remuneration, due date and method of payment of the remuneration.
8. Name and address of the quasi-freelance employee’s social insurance institution and the company pension fund (BV-Kasse).
If the quasi-freelance employee is expected to be abroad for more than one month, s/he must be informed of the following in writing before his/her departure:
1. The country in which the work is to be performed and its expected duration
2. The currency in which remuneration is to be paid,
3. If necessary, conditions for the return to Austria, and
4. Any additional remuneration for work abroad
5. If applicable, reimbursement of expenses and
6. Reference to the website of the country in which the work is performed, in accordance with Art. 5 (2) of Directive 2014/67/EU on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System.
Further relevant changes:
When in the past, employers felt relieved that they did not have to issue any statement of terms and conditions of employment to genuine employees and quasi-freelancers if their employment relationship was shorter than one month, this now over. Thus, all genuine and quasi-freelance employees must be issued and handed statements of terms and conditions of employment regardless of the duration of employment.
Whereas previously, there was a certain grace period for changes to be notified, changes to the above information (which do not only occur because of amended legislation or advancements due to periods of service under collective agreements) must now be notified in writing immediately, or no later than on the day on which the change comes into effect.
In the future, the statements of terms and conditions of employment may also be sent electronically if the genuine employee or quasi-freelancer so wishes.
Administrative penalties
If employers do not provide employees with a statement of terms and conditions of employment pursuant to Sec. 2 AVRAG, they are liable to a fine ranging from EUR100 to EUR 436 to be imposed by the district administrative authority.
If more than five employees are affected or if the employer was fined with final effect under this provision within the last three years prior to reoffending, the fine will rise to between EUR 500 and EUR 2000.
Protection against termination for a proscribed reason
Employees must not be terminated for requesting a statement of terms and conditions of employment. This is now expressly set forth in Sec. 15 AVRAG.
Your KWR employment law team will be happy to support you!