An Act valid for all. Austria decided to protect itself by law from the social and wage dumping move which could result in the expected arrival of workers from the Baltic countries, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Hungary. The Act provides that, starting on May 1st, all persons employed in Austria will be subject to the provisions of the collective agreement covering the sector where they work. “This is prevention against wage leveling down. With this new law, Austria is now one of the leaders regarding the protection of workers’ rights” declared Minister of Social Affairs Rudolf Hundstorfer. The Minister is notably referring to Germany where the modalities for this protection are the subject of an intense debate which, for the moment, has only brought partial answers, different in different sectors. Hundstorfer also says this law maintains a situation of fair competition between businesses. Last summer, the Minister of Social Affairs assessed that failure to comply with minimum wage already amounted to €240M unpaid. Walter Neubauer, Mr. Hundstorfer’s head of cabinet, Austria is expecting, initially, 20,000-25,000 eastern European workers.
new law, Austria is now one of the leaders regarding the protection of workers’ rights” declared Minister of Social Affairs Rudolf Hundstorfer. The Minister is notably referring to Germany where the modalities for this protection are the subject of an intense debate which, for the moment, has only brought partial answers, different in different sectors. Hundstorfer also says this law maintains a situation of fair competition between businesses. Last summer, the Minister of Social Affairs ass
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