At this company, we are family

Re:At this company, we are family by FirmwareBurner on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @02:20PM (#36866966)

It's exactly the same in Austria, you can always get fired without any reasons, and then you can go on unemployment. It still sucks though compared to other countries where you can't easily get fired, as the unemployment money might not always cover your expenses like mortgage, if you had a high paying job.

And this system of being easy to fire people hasn't exactly resulted in an explosive and dynamic jobs market they were hoping for, most likely due to the bureaucracy and high taxes, keeping foreign investment away. Germany has stricter employment laws with better employee protection yet a better jobs market than Austria with higher wages.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:At this company, we are family by aastronaut on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @03:46PM (#36868294)

Correction: you cannot get fired ("Entlassung") without any reason in Austria, you need rather strong reasons to fire somebody[0], but your employment contract can be terminated with a notice period anytime* ("Kündigung")[1]. The notice period is 6 weeks at minimum by law (6-12 weeks is common in startups by employment contract) and includes "Postensuchtage"[2], which allow you to use 20% of your time during the notice period however you want.

*: every 1st or 15th of the month is common

[0]: https://www.usp.gv.at/en/mitarbeiter/beendigung-arbeitsverha...

[1]: https://www.usp.gv.at/en/mitarbeiter/beendigung-arbeitsverha...

[2]: https://www.wko.at/service/arbeitsrecht-sozialrecht/Anspruch...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:At this company, we are family by FirmwareBurner on Tuesday July 25, 2023 @03:49PM (#36868342)

>but your employment contract can be terminated with a notice period anytime ("Kündigung")

Yes, that's what I meant by being fired, with notice. You thought I meant being fired without notice which is uncommon anywhere in Europe unless the employee did something illegal.

The fact that in Austria your employer can terminate your employment contract anytime with a notice period, and for no reason, is very rare in Europe as it makes employees super vulnerable to loosing their jobs anytime.

In most EU countries, with better employee protections, employers need valid reason and proof to terminate your contract with notice, otherwise they can get sued for wrongful termination and have to pay penalties.

Also, in Austria you can even get fired (with notice) while you're on sick leave, which is pretty barbaric by EU standards.

[ Parent | on HN ]