Part 4: Legal provisions – what needs to be taken into account
In the last part of our January blog series, we look at the Austrian Working Hours Act, which plays an important role in the rostering process.
The legal basis for the creation of duty rosters
- § 3 – 4 AZG standard working time: This section defines employees’ daily maximum working hours to be 8 hours. In special cases, however, this pensum can be increased to 10 hours provided that this is specified in the relevant collective agreement. Special rules are applicable in this regard.
- § 6 AZG overtime-work: The weekly working time may not exceed a maximum of 60 hours. However, there are exceptions to this rule. These are explained in more detail in this paragraph.
- § 10 AZG overtime rates: In this paragraph, it is clearly defined how overtime has to be compensated. This includes the possibility of paid (monetary) compensation as well as compensatory time off.
- § 11 AZG breaks: Employees are entitled to take breaks. The extent to which these must be provided is regulated in this article.
- § 12 AZG rest periods: Employers have to comply with clear legal requirements regarding rest periods as well. The mandatory duration of consecutive rest periods is 11 hours. In some areas, such as catering or nursing, these breaks may be reduced to 10 hours under certain conditions.
- § 12 a AZG nightwork: If operations continue between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., employees must be compensated through wage bonuses. This is particularly important to consider for continuous shift operations.
- § 20 a AZG on-call service: The Austrian Working Time Act also contains clear provisions on the subject of on-call duty. The monthly maximum is 10 hours of on-call duty per employee.
- § 25 AZG noting obligation: Employees need to have access to the current roster. The schedule can be provided both digitally or in paper form, whereby attention needs to be paid to existing data protection guidelines.
We hope that we have been able to provide an informative overview of working time models and legal frameworks with our Sheepblue Blog series. Here again are the links to the first three blogs:
Part 1: Traditional concepts: https://www.sheepblue.com/en/blog-series-explaining-different-working-time-models/
Part 2: Flexitime, function time and lots more: https://www.sheepblue.com/en/blog-series-explaining-different-working-time-models-part-2/
Part 3: Shift operations, on-call duty and staggered schedules: https://www.sheepblue.com/en/blog-series-explaining-different-working-time-models-part-3/