Overview of most important workers’ rights according to national legislation

What

In Austria, the companies must respect the workers’ right protected by national legislation. The collective agreements need to be considered when talking about workers’s rights given the importance in the country’s legislation.

The full time work is between 38.5 and 40 hours a week, depending on the collective agreement
The legal limit of working hours is 10 hours per day and limited to 50 hours per week.
You have to right to be compensated for the extra hours (Überstunden), either with a financial compensation or with extra time off (Zeitausgleich).
You have the right to have 25 working days of holidays per year.
You have the right to receive a 13^th and 14^th
You’re entitled to a 30 minutes of unpaid break if you work more than 6 hours per day.
The minimum wage in Austria depends mostly on the collective agreements. The minimum average gross salary for a full time job is around 1,400 EUR per month.
According to the law, a pregnant worker can’t work 8 weeks before the labour date and 8 weeks after it (Mutterschutz). For those weeks, you’ll receive a maternity allowance (Wochengeld), which will be calculated with the net income from the last 3 months.
Both parents can take parental leave 8 weeks after the baby is born. The leave can last till the child is 2 years old. The parents can’t take the leave at the same time and they need to take it at least for 2 months. It’s possible to rotate between father and mother.
Parents can reduce their weekly working hours at least 12 hours per week till the child turns 7 years old. Both parents can’t do it at the same time.
You have the right not to work when you’re sick. You have to go to the doctor and inform the company immediately. The doctor will decide how long you’re unable to work and provide you with a confirmation you can give to your employer.
You can take compassionate leave in order to take care for severely ill children or to be with dying relatives. You can also reduce or rearrange your working hours. You need to arrange it with your employer.

If you are pregnant, you need to tell your employer immediately. Your employer can’t fire when you are pregnant or during the maternity leave. Once the maternity leave is over, employer can’t fire you during the first four months of work.
Women and men have the right to be paid the same when doing the same Job.

Where

More information at Austrian Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer) (in German): www.arbeiterkammer.at/ueberuns/kontakt/index.html.