Posting of workers platform

Which collective agreement applies in my case?

Here we provide information on

  • How to identify the collective agreement relevant in your case
  • How that collective agreement is structured
  • Which parts are the most important

Here you can also obtain a general overview of the specific content contained in the most important collective agreements.

Identifying the relevant collective agreement

When looking for the collective agreement applying to your sector, especially consider the following: collective agreements are not concluded for specific occupations or jobs but for sectors.
Thus, not only the job that you or your employees work at (e.g. electrician, secretary, lorry driver etc.) is relevant but also and especially the sector to which the company where you work is assigned.

Examples:

  • If you work at a restaurant or catering business, the collective agreement for white-collar or blue-collar workers in the hotel and restaurant industry applies in your case.
  • If you work as a cook for a company in wholesale or retail trade, you fall under the Collective Agreement for Trade. If you are employed in the same job at a restaurant, the Collective Agreement for the Hotel and Restaurant Industry is applicable.

To determine which collective agreement a certain type of construction work falls under, the term designating that construction work needs to be matched with the corresponding activity in a collective agreement.
To do this, consult the Allocation of activities in the construction industry to relevant collective agreements.

What do the brief overviews contain?

The brief overviews offer a summary of the main content included in the most often requested collective agreements – here you find the central terms at a single glance.
The brief overviews provide information on:

  • Minimum wages and salaries
  • Supplements and allowances
  • Working time (including overtime and overtime remuneration)
  • Notice periods
  • Recent changes in wage and salary elements and to labour laws, which have been introduced since the most recent negotiations for collective agreements
  • Important information

PLEASE NOTE: The brief overviews of minimum wages and salaries provide only initial information on the framework within which the specific minimum wage level is to be determined.
The minimum wage or salary in the specific case derives only from the collective agreement.

Glossary

The glossary below provides definitions and explanations of the specific terms used in collective agreements that apply to jobs performed by posted or temporarily placed employees in Austria, as an aid in understanding the content and structure of such agreements.
A collective agreement usually consists of several separate documents, such as the framework, appendixes, annexes, supplementary collective agreements, wage or salary regulations, salary scheme.

Framework collective agreement:
The framework collective agreement (Rahmenkollektivvertrag) contains the main provisions of labour law for one sector.
One framework collective agreement can sometimes also govern several sectors (as for example in industry).

Appendix:
Documents belonging to the collective agreement that contain changes to the framework collective agreement are referred to as appendixes (Beilage).

Annex:
Many collective agreements include annexes (Anhang), which might be sample contracts or agreements, supplementary protocols, explanatory notes etc.
Such annexes constitute a part of the collective agreement.

Supplementary collective agreement:
Details applying to certain sectors (or sub-sectors) are defined in supplementary collective agreements.
Examples of items potentially stipulated in supplementary collective agreements include: special terms governing working time, provisions on travel expenses, agreements on continued training
.

Statute:
Statute (Satzung) is the term used to refer to an expansion of the scope of a collective agreement. Statutes are concluded to ensure that those employers not falling within the scope of a collective agreement employ their workers under the same working conditions and terms of remuneration as those employers who have concluded a collective agreement.
The legal effect of such statutes is comparable to that of a collective agreement. A statute hast the legal status of an ordinance.

Wage or salary regulations:
In Austria, minimum wages levels and increases are not defined in legislation but in collective agreements.
Collective agreements contain wage or salary regulations and a wage or salary scheme, which define minimum wages.
These items make it possible to determine the minimum wage or salary for a certain kind of work.