FOREIGN WORKERS IN AUSTRIA LEGISLATION AND EVENTS

compiled by Gerhard Hetfleisch

1947

Works Councils Act: voting rights for foreign nationals in works council and employee representative elections.

1949

Unemployment Insurance Act: introduction of mandatory employee insurance; unemployment benefits for all insured persons, emergency unemployment assistance for Austrian nationals only.

1970

General collective bargaining agreement: Foreign employees can be recognised as spokespersons for the workforce by works councils and employers.

1974

1947 Works Councils Act replaced by the Labour Relations Act.

2000

EU directive against discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic origin in employment. In 2001 the EU Commission started infringement proceedings against Austria because aliens were not entitled to stand for election in works council and employee representative elections. In 2002 the UN Human Rights Committee found against Austria in a case involving such voting rights.

2003

Amendment to the Aliens Police Act: 90 percent of third-country nationals resident in Austria exempted from the requirements of the Aliens Employment Act.

2006

For the first time, third-country nationals enjoyed voting rights in works council and employee representative elections.