Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Austria (Ratification: 1951)

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Amendments to the Austrian Labour Constitution Act. The Committee notes that the Government indicates that the Austrian Labour Constitution Act (Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz – ArbVG) has been recently subject to a series of amendments concerning, inter alia: (i) the reduction to 16 years of the voting age for workers in meetings (Federal Law Gazette I No. 170/2020); and (ii) the possibility to define, through collective agreements at the company level, the framework conditions for teleworking (Federal Law Gazette I No. 61/2021 and No. 115/2022). The Committee takes due note of this information.

Article 4 of the Convention. Promotion of collective bargaining. In its previous comment, the Committed had requested the Government to provide its comments on the observations submitted by the Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK) regarding the repeal, by an Act of Parliament, of certain clauses in collective agreements that designated Good Friday as a statutory public holiday specifically for members of certain churches. The BAK highlighted that the European Court of Justice had found this practice discriminatory and mandated equal treatment for all employees. In response, the Government repealed Good Friday’s status as a statutory public holiday. This legislative act also invalidated provisions in collective agreements that had allowed the day off for members of the specified churches. The BAK emphasized that this was done without consultation with the social partners, thereby bypassing discussions on how to better address such discrimination. The Committee takes note of the indication of the Government that future collective agreements can include Good Friday provisions as long as they are non-discriminatory and that that change was essential to rectify the breach of EU law before the then forthcoming Good Friday and to uphold the principle of equal treatment. While taking due note of the elements provided by the Government and, in particular, of the need to align the Austrian legal order with EU law on equal treatment, the Committee trusts that in the future the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that the social partners are consulted in the process of modifying legislation that could have an impact on collective agreements.