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Can employers in Austria ask if staff are vaccinated against Covid-19?

As the pandemic continues, the rules are also changing - including in the workplace - with vaccination status now becoming a topic of debate.

Can employers in Austria ask if staff are vaccinated against Covid-19?
Can your boss ask for your vaccine credentials? (Photo by RAYMOND ROIG / AFP)

According to a labor law expert, employers in Austria have the right to ask employees if they have been vaccinated against Covid-19.

In a report by the Kurier, labor lawyer Wolfgang Mazal said Austrian employers can ask staff if they have received the vaccine, but that doesn’t mean employees have to declare their vaccination status.

Confused? Here’s what you need to know.

What is the law?

Currently, there is no law in Austria that makes it mandatory to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

According to the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria, this means employees cannot be fired for refusing to be vaccinated.

The Chamber also confirmed they would support anyone who was dismissed for this reason in the courts.

Similarly, there is no law against an employer asking a member of staff if they have been vaccinated.

READ MORE: UPDATE: Austria to roll out Covid booster shots in autumn

However, employees are not legally obliged to answer truthfully, whether already employed or during an interview. 

Labor lawyer Mazal even says if someone is asked by their employer if they are vaccinated, they have a legal right to say, “I won’t tell you”.

Furthermore, in a statement by the Chamber of Labor Upper Austria, it is highlighted that vaccination status is considered as private health data, which is covered by data protection laws.

But employees can voluntarily announce their vaccination status to employers if they want to.

Jobs that require vaccination against Covid-19

In Austria, there are a small number of professions that require staff to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

This includes all new health and social workers in Vienna, plus health staff and some childcare workers in Burgenland, Lower Austria and Styria.

In terms of the law, mandatory vaccination in these cases only applies to new hires. For example, an employer can mandate that all job vacancies are only filled by people who have been fully vaccinated. 

READ ALSO: Austria to tighten Covid measures for unvaccinated from Wednesday

This is nothing new in Austria as staff in the health sector in Vienna have been required to be vaccinated against diphtheria, measles, tetanus, mumps, rubella and hepatitis B since 2017. 

However, some legal experts believe that while an employer cannot force existing employees in these roles to be vaccinated, they can fire staff for refusing vaccination as a “last resort”. 

The reason for this is that employers owe a duty of care to their staff and to customers. 

If a member of staff is refusing to get vaccinated, they are putting other staff and customers at risk – which could have legal repercussions for the company.

But an employer will need to have exhausted all other avenues before terminating someone for not getting vaccinated. 

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WORKING IN AUSTRIA

REVEALED: What are the most in-demand jobs in Austria right now

A new survey shows the sectors with the highest numbers of job advertisements - and in which states in Austria you can find them.

REVEALED: What are the most in-demand jobs in Austria right now

Economic challenges in Austria and the “demographically driven labour shortage” marked the country’s job market last year, a new survey by Stepstone has highlighted.

In 2022, around 531,000 jobs were advertised in the country, a decrease of 6 percent over the year before, the survey, which looked into job advertisements in 22 print media and 22 job boards throughout Austria, found.

Despite the drop in job ads, specific industries continue to have a high number of vacancies, with a large amount of advertisements placed throughout the year.

READ ALSO: Working in Austria – Why foreigners find it hard to integrate in the workplace

The sector with the most advertised vacancies was “Technical training occupations” (Technische Ausbildungsberufe), with approximately 64,000 job advertisements. These occupations include different types of technicians, including those working in construction, automotive technology, welding or electrical engineering. 

The second most sought-after occupational group was IT, with approximately 53,100 job advertisements), followed by Finance and Accounting (53,000), hotel and hospitality (50,200) and sales (49,500). 

There was a massive increase in demand in certain sectors, particularly in nursing (+24 percent) and for doctors (+18 percent). Never before have so many vacant nursing and medical assistant positions been advertised as in the second half of 2023, the survey showed. 

Workers were sought for a total of 5,084 vacancies in the fourth quarter alone. Upper Austria is the most affected region, with 1,486 vacancies, closely followed by 1,023 vacancies in Lower Austria and 862 in Vienna. 

READ ALSO: Where are the part-time jobs in Austria?

Doctors are also in greater demand than ever before: More than 5,120 doctors were sought in the previous year.

There have never been as many tenders and vacancies in the healthcare sector as in 2023, Dürhammer comments on the development.

Where are the jobs?

A comparison of the states shows that Carinthia is the only federal state with an increase in jobs in 2023. Last year, around 26,000 jobs were advertised there, five percent more than in 2022. 

Vienna recorded the sharpest decline in the number of vacancies at -13 percent. Still, it was the state with the highest number of advertised jobs, at around 140,000. The capital was followed by Upper Austria (around 112,000), Lower Austria (around 62,700), Styria (around 63,300) and Salzburg (around 51,500).

READ ALSO: What changes with the new 2024 employment laws?

“Demographically driven unemployment is influencing the general trend towards a labour shortage – regardless of economic cycles”, said Nikolai Dürhammer, managing director of Stepstone Austria and Switzerland.

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