The Austrians worked 169 million overtime hours in the previous year (seven percent less than 2023). The Chamber of Work criticizes that 42.5 million of them, every fourth, do not reimburse the employees. That corresponds to the equivalent of 80,000 full -time jobs! The employee representatives need a sharper approach.
“The willingness to work is high, but the morality of the payment is falling,” says Ak Social Expert Ines Stilling. On average, “only” 14 percent of overtime was not compensated by employers in 2020, the value increased to 25 percent in the previous year. An all -time high was even reached in women. 29.2 percent of overtime did not remain asked for the female gender. For men the value is 23 percent (2020: 11.1 percent).
Almost two -thirds (63 percent) of overtime are eliminated. Behind this follows with 19 percent officials and employees (18 percent). There are no deviations in terms of industry, the non -paid overtime hours are relatively the same across all areas. However, there are long calculation periods on the market, which would result in less “real” overtime or more hours.
2.3 billion euros in missing income and tax revenues
Due to the “wage robbery”, such as the AK formulated, the State and the employee escaped a total of approximately 2.3 billion euros in income or taxes and taxes. This alone, 1.2 billion euros in net wages or salaries that are entitled to employees. “This is twice bitter because this money is missing for private consumption. But the state also takes income that is urgently needed in view of the budgetary situation,” emphasizes AK President Renate Anderl.
Claims expire after three years at the last minute
She demands that all overtime hours are compensated. To do this, the sets should be tightened. In particular, there must be a fine allowance of 100 percent if the employer submits claims. Labor inspection also had to be set up better and the expiry periods had to be banned.
It is currently the case that claims such as overtime expire after three years. “In the employment contract, shorter deadlines, so -driven expiration date clauses, can be agreed. Depending on the agreement, claims can no longer be charged after a few months. These deadlines are often between 3 and 6 months,” Ines explains stagnant.
Editing working hours helps with the case of a dispute
Since there are always disputes between the employer and the employee with regard to the payment of practice hours, the AK recommends that the AK has an accurate recording about the working hours worked.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
