Planned amendment to the Anti-Wage and Social Dumping Act

A ministerial draft for an amendment to the Anti-Wage and Social Dumping Act is currently being considered. The planned changes are intended to revise the administrative fine provisions of the law and to improve the working conditions for posted workers.

The main points of the draft are:

• For workers posted or sent for more than 12 months, Austrian labor law standards as well as collective agreements shall apply in full. This is applicable, insofar as Austrian standards are more favorable than the regulations in the posting country.
  In justified cases this 12-month period may be extended to 18 months.
  Posted employees with particularly high salaries however shall not be covered by the Act.
• The amendment to the administrative fine provisions of the Act shall eliminate the accumulation principle. Previously, fines for offenses such as violations of the obligation to keep records of work were issued per employee. The new regulation is intended to avoid unreasonably high fines due to accumulation. This should relieve the burden on smaller companies, in particular.

The amendment is planned to come into force on September 1, 2021