{"id":9289,"date":"2024-11-27T16:15:42","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T15:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.labourlaw.at\/?p=9289"},"modified":"2024-11-29T21:47:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-29T20:47:31","slug":"the-saga-surrounding-notice-periods-for-seasonal-industries-has-reached-a-preliminary-conclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.labourlaw.at\/en\/the-saga-surrounding-notice-periods-for-seasonal-industries-has-reached-a-preliminary-conclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"The saga surrounding notice periods for seasonal industries has reached a (preliminary) conclusion!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The question of notice periods for workers in certain industries has preoccupied Austrian courts for years. After two Supreme Court (OGH) decisions and a review by the Constitutional Court (VfGH), the highest court has recently issued a significant ruling on the burden of proof.<\/p>\n

Background: Harmonization of Notice Periods<\/strong><\/p>\n

The alignment of statutory notice periods for workers with the (longer) periods applicable to salaried employees represented another step by lawmakers in harmonizing workers’ and salaried employees’ rights. However, not every worker benefits from these extended notice periods. In industries dominated by “seasonal businesses,” social partners were permitted to deviate from the new statutory regulations to the detriment of workers through collective agreements. Many collective agreements have exercised this option, often maintaining the status quo.<\/p>\n

Who Must Prove That an Industry Is Seasonal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following a controversial debate in legal scholarship, HR managers in seasonal industries can now breathe a sigh of relief. In its ruling on September 19, 2024 (9 ObA 57\/24h), the OGH clarified: If a terminated employee wishes to invoke the longer statutory notice periods of Section 1159 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB), they must prove that the relevant industry is predominantly made up of businesses that are not seasonal. Only in this case would the shorter notice period stipulated in the collective agreement (e.g., the 14-day period in the hotel and catering industry) be deemed invalid.<\/p>\n

If this proof cannot be provided\u2014which, in practice, is a nearly insurmountable challenge for individual employees\u2014the shorter collective agreement notice period applies.<\/p>\n

The OGH justifies this outcome by asserting that collective agreement provisions are generally presumed to be legally valid unless proven otherwise. While the court acknowledges the practical difficulties of this burden of proof, it emphasizes that addressing “unsatisfactory legislative provisions” is the responsibility of lawmakers, not the judiciary.<\/p>\n

Practical Implications for Workers<\/strong><\/p>\n

In practice, this means that workers will generally have to accept the shorter notice periods specified in collective agreements. If they wish to avoid this, they should aim to negotiate longer notice periods individually in their employment contracts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The question of notice periods for workers in certain industries has preoccupied Austrian courts for years. After two Supreme Court (OGH) decisions and a review by the Constitutional Court (VfGH), the highest court has recently issued a significant ruling on the burden of proof. Background: Harmonization of Notice Periods The alignment of statutory notice periods…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unkategorisiert"],"yoast_head":"\nThe saga surrounding notice periods for seasonal industries has reached a (preliminary) conclusion! - Krichmayr Tinhofer Rechtsanw\u00e4lte<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The reduction of notice periods for workers through collective agreements is permissible in seasonal industries.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.labourlaw.at\/en\/the-saga-surrounding-notice-periods-for-seasonal-industries-has-reached-a-preliminary-conclusion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The saga surrounding notice periods for seasonal industries has reached a (preliminary) conclusion! 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