The Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor wants to stand by affected Lauda employees and carefully examine the dismissals. The lawsuit for the dismissal of employees who fall under the Maternity Protection Act, however, has little chance of obtaining legal approval.

Last week, the Austrian airline Lauda caused a sensation with mass layoffs in the areas of flight personnel and office staff, because at least one pregnant ground worker was given notice and for at least 25 flight workers who fall under the Maternity Protection Act, the company is suing the regional court in Korneuburg for approval .

The procedure also seems to have surprised the statutory workers' representatives, the Lower Austria Chamber of Labor, because numerous Lauda employees have reported in the last few days of consultations at AK Lower Austria.

On request, she said on the question of dismissals of pregnant women and mothers on maternity leave: "Pregnant women are subject to special protection against dismissal according to Section 10 of the Maternity Protection Act and cannot be terminated during pregnancy and up to four months after the birth. The employer can request judicial approval of the termination; the court may only grant this approval if “the employer cannot continue the employment relationship without damage to the company due to a restriction or shutdown of the company or the shutdown of individual company departments” (”10 Paragraph 3 of the Maternity Protection Act). A termination of pregnant women is therefore only possible to a very limited extent, without judicial approval it is even legally ineffective. Laudamotion has applied for judicial approval, the first hearing is scheduled for July 20, 7. "

The Lower Austrian Chamber of Labor is of the opinion, however, that the cause of action to consent to the dismissal of at least 25 employees who fall under the maternity protection law may no longer exist. When asked what prospects Lauda’s legal action had, AK Lower Austria replied: “As already mentioned, the economic aspects will be examined and whether it is economically reasonable for the company to continue to employ the affected employees. After Laudamotion continues to operate the Vienna site, it cannot be assumed that operations will be shut down. Therefore, the "restriction of operation" according to Section 10 of the Maternity Protection Act will have to be checked. "

Since some Lauda employees also expressed the suspicion that the regular dismissals, some of which were distributed in front of the company building on Thursday and Friday of last week, are void due to a so-called "motive dismissal" and / or because the short-time-related protection period has not yet expired This was also asked of the Lower Austria Chamber of Labor.

The statutory employee representatives replied: “Legal action can be taken against a dismissal if it was pronounced for a frowned upon motive. Examples of this would be the convening of works meetings in preparation for a possible works council election, the assertion of claims against the employer that are not obviously unjustified (e.g. the employee demands his unpaid wage and is terminated for it), the announcement that he wants to take part-time parental leave, which is followed by the Termination, etc. The question of the existence of a frowned upon motive - just like the question of the existence of protection against dismissal following short-time work - must be checked on a case-by-case basis on the basis of the respective situation. In this regard, AK Lower Austria does not yet have all the facts in order to be able to make a legal assessment. "

The Lower Austria Public Employment Service, which is responsible for short-time working, was also asked to comment on the protection period. A spokeswoman said: “For reasons of secrecy vis-à-vis our customers (applies to companies as well as jobseekers), we cannot provide any information on the specific facts. In general, I can inform you that in the course of the agreement on short-time work, an agreement on retention periods will also be made. The company has the option of requesting a reduction in the retention period. This is then decided by the responsible regional advisory board of the AMS, in which both employer and employee representatives vote. "

The Lower Austria Chamber of Labor and the Vida trade union offer the Lauda employees concerned legal advice and, if necessary, legal protection for any legal proceedings. Both organizations confirmed this.