NATIONAL LABOUR MARKET POLICIES
Basic Information Reports
2.4.3.Temporary Employment
The Temporary Employment Act (Arbeitskräfteüberlassungsgesetz - AÜG) of 1988 regulates the hiring out of manpower and their labour to third parties and serves to protect the hired out employees.
Under the terms of this law, agreements which are unfavourable to the workers are prohibited (for example, the right to remuneration may not be restricted to the duration of employment in the user company). The user company has a duty to ensure the welfare of the temporary employees and, deriving from this duty, is obliged to guarantee that they and the regular staff are treated on an equal basis.
Remuneration must be at least equal to the collectively agreed conditions for the sector in which the user company operates. Likewise, working hours may not deviate to any significant degree from normal company requirements; if the temporary employee cannot be occupied for the agreed period, he/she is still entitled to the stipulated wage.
The minimum requirements for the basic contract concluded between the employment agency and the employee are laid down in law (rate of remuneration, dates of payment, leave due, amount and type of labour output required, place of work, periods of notice, etc.); the basic content of the agreement must be given in written form to the employee (notice of rights and duties).
In order to avoid developments which have a negative labour market impact, e.g. competitive distortion due to the use of hired-out workers in place of regular staff, the Federal Minister of Labour, Health and Social Affairs may, in agreement with the Federal Minister of Economic Affairs, restrict temporary employment (in the event of the share of temporary employees exceeding 10% of total dependent employees, blue-collar workers or salaried employees in one industrial sector).
Workers may not be hired out to companies on strike; hiring out of labour across international borders is prohibited on principle and only permitted in exceptional cases.
Operation of a temporary employment agency requires an official licence and is bound to provision of proof of qualification (applicants must sit an examination testing their knowledge of relevant legislation). The Chief Secretary of the respective Land is authorised to issue licences; the legal representatives of the employers and employees and the competent Federal Office for Social Affairs and the Disabled (since 1.1.1995, previously the AMS) are also involved in the procedure.
The Federal Office for Social Affairs and the Disabled is also charged with monitoring both the employment agencies and the user companies. Penalties are enforced on violation of the statutory requirements (notification of the district administration, withdrawal of the licence to practice by the Chief Secretary).
Quantitatively speaking, temporary employment is not significant in Austria; the 1997 annual target survey revealed that around 18,000 workers were hired out that year, i.e. 0.9% of all dependent employees.
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