Innovations in service notes

Labour law is largely harmonized through European influences, which often benefits international employers as it creates legal uniformity in the member states of the European Union (EU). Austrian legislation has amended the Employment Contract Law Adaptation Act (AVRAG), among other things, to implement the EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions in the EU.

    
Documentation of the agreed rights and obligations

According to the provisions of the AVRAG, employers are obliged to provide employees with a written record of the main rights and obligations arising from the employment contract immediately after the start of the employment relationship. This is the so-called service note. The employment record must contain the minimum content required by law and is merely a documentation of the agreed rights and obligations.

    
Electronic transmission possible

One innovation is that the employment contract can also be submitted electronically at the employee's discretion. An employment certificate does not have to be submitted if a written employment contract is handed over, which includes all the minimum information on the employment certificate. The purpose of the employment certificate is therefore still to provide information about rights and obligations arising from the employment relationship. For economic and efficiency reasons, however, there is no need for a double transmission if the written employment contract already fulfills the information purpose.

     
New information on the service note

The implementation of the Directive has also resulted in a number of changes to the minimum information that must be included in a service record. This includes information on the dismissal procedure, the registered office of the company, a brief description of the work to be performed, the remuneration of overtime, if applicable, the method of payment of remuneration, information on the conditions for changing shift schedules, if applicable, the name and address of the social security institutions and, if applicable, the entitlement to training provided by the employer.

Failure to hand over the duty roster is subject to an administrative penalty. This amounts to € 100 to € 436 or € 500 to € 2,000 in the event of a repeat offense or if more than five employees are affected.

The provisions of the new minimum content apply to employment relationships established from March 28, 2024. The new information must therefore be included in the employment contract. The employment certificate for existing relationships does not need to be amended. However, if no employment certificate has yet been issued, this must be done, as the administrative penalty provision also applies in this case.
It was also stipulated that employees are entitled to enter into an employment relationship with other employers in addition to their existing employment relationship. Any prohibitions in employment contracts may therefore be ineffective. Employers must bear the costs of any training or further training that is required for the performance of the employment contract.

    
Note

In connection with the changes, employers should note that employees may neither be disadvantaged when asserting the rights listed (prohibition of discrimination) nor dismissed for this reason (protection against dismissal for cause).