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Austria - minimum wage
Source of information: IRU
Scope (both freight and passenger)
- cabotage
- bilateral point to point international transport
- transit EXCLUDED
Pre-registration
Electronic pre-declaration of the drives must be done using this form (available in several languages). Instructions for filling out are included in the document. In the case of mobile employees in the transport area, the notification must be submitted BEFORE entry into federal territory. In the case of spontaneous cabotage, notification must be made BEFORE the work is started.
Documentation obligation
The pre-registration form and other documents must be kept available in the vehicle (place of employment) – see below. Please note that further details are included in the pre-registration form under the green buttons.
- the social insurance document A1
- a copy of the message of the posting
- Supporting documentation, which in any case indicates the actual salary paid to employees during their employment in Austria.
These documents include:
O the employment contract or a written record of the content of the employment contract
O Payslip, employer's or employer's proof of payment, or bank transfer vouchers
O Payroll records
O Documentation on wage classification - These documents must be available in German.
Minimum salary level
During the period of posting to Austria, workers must be paid at least the level of remuneration specified by a statute or a regulation or the collective agreement in Austria. Please note that the concrete level of the minimum wage is not regulated by law in Austria, but is usually the result of the collective agreement applicable to the industry and the activity. The specific work actually performed by the posted worker in Austria determines the pay level due as stipulated in a collective agreement in Austria.
The question is which collective agreement applies to the employer based outside Austria. Limited information (related only to freight transport) can be found here:
Remarks
The provisions of the Federal Act shall not apply if the employee is sent to Austria solely for the purpose of providing work of a small scale and short duration (not defined). Transit is excluded, provided that the work is performed exclusively within the transit traffic and the usual place of work is not situated in Austria (cf Rome I and Koelzch ECJ case).
Sources of information
Further information can be found under the Posting of Workers webpage of the Austrian authorities - http://www.postingofworkers.at/cms/Z04/Z04_10/home. (available in German and English)
The Austrian authorities released an additional information on the application of the posting in the transport sector for the Austrian minimum wage law (LSD-BG).
You can download the brochure "Information on the posting of transport sector workers from the EEA and Switzerland" on the website www.postingofworkers.at in the following languages: DE, EN, HU, PL, CS, SK and SL (please see right top of the webpage).
Direct Link: http://www.postingofworkers.at/cms/Z04/Z04_10.999_15/lsd-bg-current-information-for-the-transport-sector
Following a number of EU interventions with the Austrian authorities, we have been informed that the Austrian Ministry of Social Affairs prepares major relaxation of the LSD-BG obligations imposed on the road transport sector as of 1 January 2017:
1. There will be a simple "collective report" (similar to the German model), which is adapted to the needs of the transport industry and with its own reporting form
2. The notification should be possible for a period of 6 months
3. The driver data (name/date of birth) and the license number of the vehicle are to be reported. Other details such as the deployment plan, etc. will not be in all likelihood necessary
4. The question of whether all documents, or, if necessary, only very specific documents should continue to be carried on board in German, is still open, however also here the relaxation is likely
5. Discussion is also underway to remove (partially or completely) occasional passenger transport from the scope of the LSD-BG
Until the entry into force of amendments, the existing obligations must continue to be respected. That is the corresponding form ZKO3 of the financial administration must be transmitted electronically before entry of the posted worker into Austria.
As regards enforcement, we were informed that the controls would also take place until the entry into force of new the facilitated reporting rules. However, apparently checks should take into account the legal and technical problems.
New information
We have received further details on the announced relaxation of the LSD-BG rules in Austria. Apparently this should enter into force as of 1 June 2017.
Below please find further details as received from the Austrian authorities:
Registration
Notice will be submitted in future only in summary form for each 6-month period, regardless of the individual cases of posting, clients/principals or places of employment. The information to be reported includes the employees expected to be posted to Austria and the licence plate numbers of the vehicles to be used.
Documents on board:
When posting workers to Austria, only the employment contract or the Statement of terms and conditions (Dienstzettel) and records of hours worked will be required to be kept directly in the vehicle (in addition to the ZKO form and the A1 social security document and be produced in the case of an inspection in the future. The other pay documents will only have to be submitted to the tax authorities upon specific request after an inspection but not be kept in the vehicle any more. The pay documents will have to be submitted for the calendar month of the inspection of the employee and, if the employee worked in Austria in the month before, also for that month.
No details have been given on a potential exclusion or partial exclusion of the occasional passenger transport.
New information on 28th April, 2017
On 27th April, 2017 the European Commission initiated the infringement procedure against Austria on the application of LSD-BG on road transport. The EC considers that the application of the minimum wage and other obligations is done in an disproportionate manner. The legal reasoning is similar to the case of MiLoG and Loi Macron as it works with the concept of sufficient link to the Austrian territory. Excessive and disproportionate administrative burden is also mentioned. The Austrian authorities now have two months to respond to the arguments put forward by the Commission in the letter of formal notice (first step of the infringement procedure).
Please find here the link to the EC Press release with further details.