The Supreme Court has answered a question from the Austrian Chamber of Commerce as to whether tourism is a seasonal industry in the negative. This makes it clear: the legal adjustment of the notice periods for employees (since October 2021) also applies to the hotel and catering industry.

“Colleagues finally have legal certainty. Injustice is a thing of the past. The years of trade union pressure have paid off,” says Berend Tusch, head of the tourism department of the Vida trade union, thereby dismissing a letter from the Chamber of Commerce to their companies, which states that there is still no legal certainty. Since October, there has been six weeks to the next quarter for employer terminations and four weeks to the last of the month for employee terminations. 

In the letter, the Chamber of Commerce advises its companies to tend to use the new longer notice periods for workers, but recommends a possible money reclaim - from the WKÖ point of view, the 14-day notice period could also be used because there is no legal certainty - in the Subject to final settlement. "That means the Chamber of Commerce does not recognize the assessment of the Court of Justice," Tusch is outraged: "So the time has come, the WKÖ sees itself above the law." The decision of the Supreme Court should of course be accepted, Tusch locates intentional donations Confusion on the part of the WKÖ. Trade unionist Tusch sees the Chamber of Commerce much more as a bad loser: "With the request, the WKÖ provoked the rejection of the Supreme Court - big gamble, big loss."

The department chair calls on WKÖ spokesman Spreitzhofer and Pulker to correct the widespread nonsense immediately. The statements are not only wrong, but would also reveal the attitude of the Chamber of Commerce representatives. "The reclaim in the specified form provides for the employee to be allowed to work for six weeks in the event of a termination, so that he can then be told that the period was only two weeks and that money must now be paid back because he did not have the employee for that long should have kept in operation,” explains Tusch.

"So I'm not surprised that the companies can't find any employees. If employers hide reality with such ideas, it doesn't get the industry a millimeter any further. This has been happening for years anyway and the result is the shortage of skilled workers, which is regularly ventilated by the Chamber of Commerce, but is homemade. Finally give your colleagues fair working conditions and wages that you can live on. In the next collective bargaining negotiations, employers will have another chance to improve the situation. We extend our hand,” Tusch concludes.