1. Statutes

The most important areas of Austrian Labour Law are regulated in detail by statute. However, there is no unified code capable of regulating Labour Law in its entirety, but there are different statutes in respect of particular employee groups and certain aspects of employment conditions (e.g. Act on White-collar Employees, Working Hours Act, Vacation Act, et cetera). Those statutory provisions which regulate rights and duties arising from employment relationships are mostly binding to the employee´s advantage. This means that neither collective bargaining agreements, work agreements nor individual contracts may contain terms which are less beneficial to the employee than the legal provisions (statutes).

2. Collective Bargaining Agreement:

Collective bargaining agreements are written agreements concluded between employers´ associations and employees´ associations for the purpose of regulating working conditions. As a rule, collective bargaining agreements are concluded for all businesses or all employees of an industry. They contain mandatory provisions, which, within the scope of the collective bargaining agreement, will directly affect each single employment contract. These binding provisions must be understood as part of the individual employment contract and can neither be revoked nor restricted by an individual employment contract or a works agreement for the benefit of the employer. Collective bargaining agreements therefore guarantee minimum rights to employees.

The main significance of collective bargaining agreements lies in the settlement of minimum salaries and wages.

3. Works agreements

Whereas collective bargaining agreements are essentially concluded by supra-establishment associations and apply to employers and employees in a particular branch of economy, works agreements are written agreements between the owner of an establishment and the works council.

The works agreements´ application is restricted to the establishment. Besides, works agreements can only regulate matters as allowed for in either a statute or collective bargaining agreement. Like a statute or collective bargaining agreement, a works agreement permitted in this way is legally directly effective. In areas which are already regulated by a works agreement, an individual contract can only lay down conditions which are more favourable to the employee than those in the works agreement. Other changes by individual contract are not permitted.

4. Individual contracts of employment

An employment contract regulates the individual employment relationship. Since the most important conditions of employment are regulated by statutes and collective agreement, its role can be restricted to specifying the type of work and the beginning of employment relationship. It is of course possible and usual for other matters to be regulated in the contract of employment (such as salaries, working place, working hours, et cetera), but as a rule the employment conditions determined by statute, collective bargaining agreement or works agreement can not be worsened (from the employee´s point of view) as a result of the contract of employment.