Austria has a single trade union confederation, the ÖGB, to which a fifth of all employees belong. Not affiliated to a particular party, the ÖGB nevertheless has strong political ties through its system of political groupings. 1
Union density and structure
Figures from the unions indicate that there were 1,194,029 trade union members in Austria at the end of 2024. 2 With 3,965,200 employees in Austria the last quarter of 2025, 3 this suggests a union density level (the proportion of employees who are union members) of around 30%. However, recent research based on taxation records indicates that a large and growing number of union members are not employees, and that these members, who may be retired, unemployed, self-employed or students, made up just over 30% of union membership in 2020. 4 (The pensioner association of the union confederation, the ÖGB, has 180,000 members. 5) Based on this estimate of employee members, the OECD database puts union density in Austria at 20.2% in 2024. 6
The taxation-based research also found that although there are more union members in the private rather than the public sector, union density in 2020 was much higher in the public sector (at 51.5%) than in the private sector at 17.6%.
There is only one trade union confederation in Austria, the ÖGB, founded in 1945 to overcome the political divisions between unions which had existed before the fascist take-over.
Unions in Austria also exist alongside the Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer – AK), to which all employees must belong and which provides some of the services that in other countries unions offer (see Legal framework).
Individual unions
The ÖGB is divided into separate unions, representing manual and non-manual workers in different parts of the economy. In a series of union mergers, in 2006 and 2009, the number of separate unions fell from 13 in 2005 to seven, but since then the structure has been stable.
The seven unions are: the GPA, the largest, covering non-manual private sector workers (291,228 members), GÖD with members in central government and some other public sector areas (267,804 members), PRO-GE, whose members are largely manual workers in manufacturing (211,970), younion, with members in local government (146,008 members), Vida, covering transport and services (132,865), GBH, for workers in construction and the wood industry (106,099) and GPF, covering post and telecommunications (38,055 members). 7 (All membership figures are for the end of December 2025.)
Legally, these unions are parts of the ÖGB. However, the ÖGB’s own rules provide them with substantial independence: individual unions have their own finances, can set their own priorities and reach their own collective agreements. 8
There are also small union groupings outside the ÖGB, including some grouped together in the FGÖ, which is close to the far-right Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and has separate sections for members in the army, the police service and other areas. 9 There is also an association for employed doctors, Asklepios, which was set up in 2015. 10
Political position
The ÖGB itself is not tied to a particular political party but it has close links to the parties through its system of political groupings (factions), which under §13 of the ÖGB’s rules, have formal rights, including funding, within the union structure. 11
There are six recognised political factions in the ÖGB:
- the FSG, linked to the social democrats (SPÖ);
- the FCG linked to the conservative Austrian People's Party (ÖVP);
- the Linksblock, representing views to the left of the social democrats;
- the independent union faction (UG), which is close to the Greens
- the party-politically independent faction (PFG), which emphasises its independence of political parties; and
- the FA, which is close to the far-right Freedom Party.
The FSG, linked to the social democrats, is the largest and most influential political faction. In 2025, Wolfgang Katzian was president of the ÖGB, had previously been chair of the FSG, and the heads of five of the six ÖGB unions were members of the social-democrat faction. The exception was the GÖD, the second largest ÖGB affiliate, which organises workers in central government, whose chair came from the FCG faction. The FGC also provided one of the ÖGB’s two vice presidents.
This structure means that the unions normally have close organisational and personal links with a range of parties, both in and out of government.
Legal framework
Trade unions are not directly protected in the Austrian constitution but derive protection from Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which Austria has adopted. This states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests”.
There is little legislation directly governing the operation of trade unions. However, the Work Constitution Act (Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz) the key piece of legislation governing collective bargaining and workplace representation, states that to be able to conclude collective agreements (to be “kollektivvertragsfähig) unions (and employers’ associations) must:
- have this as their purpose;
- operate across a wide area;
- through their membership and activities have a “substantial economic force”; and
- be independent of the other party. 12
These requirements, particularly that unions should have substantial economic force, have helped cement the position of the ÖGB unions.
One other important element of the Austria system is the existence of statutory bodies, so-called chambers, for employers and employees, membership of which is obligatory. These are the Austrian chambers of labour (AK) for employees and the Austria economic chambers (WKO) for private sector employers. There is also a chamber for agriculture (LK).
The chambers of labour – there are separate chambers in each of Austria’s nine regions (Bundesländer) – provide advice and support to all employees, covering social and consumer rights, as well as employment law, and they also represent employees’ interests in discussions with government and other official bodies. The chambers of labour are not involved in collective bargaining, but the economic chambers have a central negotiating role (see Collective bargaining).
Membership trends
Overall trade union membership in Austria has been broadly stable at around 1.2 million since the global financial crisis in 2008, although the 2025 figure of 1,194,029 is slightly down on the 1,216,810 recorded in 2019. 13 However, the number of employees in Austria has increased by 15% since 2008. 14 Combined with an increase in the proportion of union members who are not employees, the result is that union density, as measured by the OECD, had fallen from 26.3% in 2008 to 20.2% in 2024. 15
Gaining new members is seen as a high priority for the ÖGB, with regular reports on successes on its website, which also includes details the benefits of membership and an online membership form.
Women
Women made up 38.8% of total ÖGB membership in 2025, the highest since the foundation of the ÖGB in 1945, and the proportion of women in membership has grown every year since 2008. However, it remains lower than the proportion of women among employees, which was 49% in 2025, 16 indicating that union density remains higher among men than women. This confirmed by the union membership statistics calculated from tax returns, which show that in 2020 union density was 20.3% for women and 26.1% for men. 17
Industry-level agreements dominate in Austria, and as the employers are normally represented by statutory bodies – the economic chambers, to which all employers are obliged to belong – the agreements cover almost all employees. 18
Collective bargaining coverage and structure
Negotiations in Austria are primarily conducted at industry level. There are sometimes separate agreements for manual and non-manual workers, reflecting the division in the Austrian unions, although this is becoming less frequent. (Legislation removing the final legal distinctions between manual and non-manual workers was passed in 2017, although the changes were only fully implemented in 2021.)
In almost all cases these industry-level negotiations are conducted on the employers’ side by the economic chambers (WKO). And, because membership of the chamber is compulsory for employers (see Legal framework), this means that almost all employees are covered by collective bargaining. The OECD database estimated coverage at 98% in 2024. 19
Individual companies do not engage in collective bargaining. However, local works councils (employee representatives at workplace or company level) are involved in the implementation of industry-level agreements at company level (see Who negotiates?).
Although in most cases the economic chambers undertake collective bargaining, employers’ associations are also entitled to negotiate provided they meet the same criteria as those imposed on unions (see Legal framework) – principally having “substantial economic force”. Some of these represent employers who for specific reasons have traditionally been outside the chamber system, like newspaper publishers or electricity supply companies. 20 However, they are also newer associations like SWÖ, which represents private sector employers in social and health care. It was recognised by the government as being entitled to negotiate in 1997 and now negotiates on behalf of 620 individual employers with 80,000 employees, although since 2006 the agreement has been extended to the whole industry (see Extending agreements) covering around 110,000 employees. 21
Formally, the pay for many public sector workers is set by law. In practice, there are regular negotiations between unions representing public sector workers and the government, similar to those in the private sector, as the negotiations in 2025 indicate. 22
Variations in collective bargaining coverage
With 98% of employees covered by collective bargaining, there is little scope for variations in collective bargaining coverage. However, as a recent study from the Chamber of Labour in Vienna shows, there are a few areas, like domestic workers, caretakers and employees in private schools and nurseries, who are not covered by collective agreements, although they are covered by minimum wage rates, set by the state (see Minimum wage). 23
Extending agreements
In most cases there is no need to extend collective agreements, as they are signed, on the employers’ side by the economic chamber to which all employers must belong.
However, where agreements are signed by an employers’ association, they can be extended to all employers in the sector by the state (Bundeseinigungsamt). The process, known as Satzung, currently applies to nine agreements, most are in private sector social and health care (see Collective bargaining coverage and structure), but agreements in newspaper production and private education are also extended. 24
By law collective agreements cover all employees, irrespective of whether they are members of the signatory unions.
Allowing local variations
Industry-level agreements are normally binding on all employers in the industry concerned. Local and individual arrangements can only improve in what is agreed at industry level.
However, it is possible to vary pay increases at local level if the industry agreement provides for this. This was the case in the agreement in the metalworking industry in 2023, where employers facing financial difficulty where able to reduce the agreed 10% increase on actual pay by up to 3% in return for one-off payments, increased time-off or additional training. 25
Who negotiates?
Negotiations normally take place between the unions on one side and the economic chambers (WKO) on the other. There are relatively few areas, like social care or newspaper printing, where the negotiations are with employers' industry associations rather than with the chambers (see Collective bargaining coverage and structure).
Collective agreements can provide for certain elements to be negotiated locally between individual employers and works councils (employee representatives at workplace or company level). For example, specific amounts have been set aside in some collective agreements to deal with issues like gender pay discrimination at company level.
Individual employers and works councils can also reach voluntary company/plant level deals (Betriebsvereinbarungen) on issues such as company pensions or profit-sharing. However, these must always result in terms and conditions that are better than those in collective agreements signed at industry level. (These local agreements are in addition to the agreements on issues such as working time arrangements or performance-linked pay systems, which result from the system of workplace representation – see Workplace representation.)
Industrial action
There is no specific right to strike in the Austrian constitution. However, this is provided under Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, 26 as well as in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 28), which allows workers and their organisations, in accordance with EU law and “national laws and practices … to take collective action to defend their interests, including strike action”. 27
These “national laws and practices” barely exist in Austria, which has no separate legislation regulating strikes.
Strikes are rare in Austria, as the figures from the ÖGB union confederation show. 28 In 2003, there was significant strike action as part of a wider social movement against a planned pensions reform, when 779,000 workers were involved, but since then, in most years, the numbers have been much lower, with a high of 87,034 workers on strike in 2011, linked to employer-driven changes in negotiations in metalworking.
2023 was another highpoint with 110,401 on strike, across a range of industries, although on average only for seven hours each. In 2025, strike number returned to more typical levels with 6,637 workers involved, striking for an average of three hours each.
Length and timing of agreements
Negotiations are normally annual, with the metal workers usually setting the pace in the autumn, with the new pay deal starting in November.
However, this is not always the case. The metalworkers signed two-year deals in both 2023 and 2025, and public sector workers agreed to a three-year settlement in 2025. 29
Collective agreements continue to be in force until a replacement has been signed.
Subjects covered in negotiations
Negotiations on pay normally set the percentage increases for both minimum rates and the actual rates paid in individual workplaces (known as “Ist-Löhne” which are often higher than the minimum rates. Employees typically receive 14 payments a year, normally including an extra month’s pay at both Christmas and in the summer (holiday pay). The level of these extra payments is determined in collective agreements.
There is no central wage norm set by the ÖGB, but in general unions aim for an increase which at least matches the inflation of the previous year and takes account of the average increase in productivity in the economy as a whole. Known as the “Benya-formula”, after a former president of the ÖGB, this aims to ensure that all parts of the economy, not just the most productive, benefit from economic growth.
As well as pay and conditions like hours and holidays, collective agreements also cover procedural issues, like protection against dismissal.
Trends in collective bargaining
Austria has had high levels of bargaining coverage over a long period. The OECD statistics show coverage steady at 95% from 1960 to 1990 and at 98% from 1995 onwards. 30
This is substantially a result of institutional factors, in particularly the negotiating role of the economic chambers with their obligatory membership for employers, but the close mutual ties between union and employers and the political parties have helped maintain the existing system.
There has been some opposition to the obligatory membership of the chambers, primarily from the far-right FPÖ and the economically liberal NEOS party. Recently this has been directed more against the obligation on employers to belong to the economic chamber than employees’ obligatory membership of the chamber of labour, 31 although this has also come under pressure in the past. 32
However, although the chambers have been asked to find ways in which they can be more efficient and operate at a lower cost, there are no plans to remove the obligation on employers and employees to belong to the appropriate chamber.
Minimum wage
There is no statutory system for setting a single national minimum wage in Austria. 33 However, the vast majority of employees (98%) are covered by industry-level collective agreements (see Collective bargaining coverage and structure) which set minimum wages for their industries.
In June 2017 the union confederation ÖGB and the Austrian economic chambers (WKO) agreed a target of €1,500 a month as the lowest rate set in the industry agreements they signed, to be achieved by the end of 2019. (A similar agreement with a target of €1,000 a month was signed in 2017). Research from the Chamber of Labour in Vienna estimates that by 2024 in all but four collective agreements the lowest rate exceeded €1,500 a month and that in almost six out of 10 it was above €2,000 a month. 34
In addition, minimum rates are set by the state (Bundeseinigungsamt) for the small number of employees in occupations and industries not covered by collective bargaining. Minimum wages, which are set at the request of the unions after consultation with the economic chamber, cover domestic workers, caretakers, au-pairs, and some employees in private educational institutions and nurseries. 35
Joint employer/union body at national level
Cooperation and social partnership between unions and employers have a long history in Austria, going back at least as far as the creation of the Joint Commission for Pay and Price Questions (Die Paritätische Kommission für Lohn- und Preisfragen) in 1957, and operating for many years through the annual Bad Ischler Dialogue. 36
There is currently a 25-member advisory board made up of experts from the employers, the economic chamber and the chamber of agriculture, and of employees, the chamber of labour and the ÖGB union confederation. Its aim is to provide an objective basis for debate and help achieve common particularly:
- securing international competitiveness;
- developing human talents; and
- maintaining and improving a humane world of work. 37
Employee representation the private sector in in Austria is through the works councils, with similar bodies in the public sector. By law they can be set up in all workplaces with at least five employees, although in reality they are rare in smaller workplaces. Works councils have important information and consultation rights, which amount to an effective veto in a few areas.
The basic structure
Workers in Austria have a clear legal right to representation in all but the smallest workplaces. Provided there are at least five employees in a workplace, private sector employees can set up a works council (Betriebsrat), which represents all employees. 38
There is a similar structure of workplace representation in the public sector, although the details vary between the central government and Austria’s nine federal states, as well for the Austrian post office and railways. In central government, the body representing employees at the workplace is known as an office committee (Dienststellenausschuss), although the threshold for setting it up is 20 employees rather five for a works council.
The extent of workplace representation
In practice, works councils are found widely but are not universal. A major study carried out for the Chamber of Labour, Vienna, in 2022 found that 54% of workers in Austria were employed in a workplace where there was a works council or some other form of elected representative body. 39
The likelihood of working in a workplace with a works council or similar body, rises with the size of the workplace. While only 11% of works in workplaces with between five and 19 employees had a works council, for those working in workplaces with between 20 and 99 the figure is 36% and for those in workplaces with more than 1,000 employees, the proportion with a works council is 87%.
Figures from the same study show differences depending on the ownership structure. In privately owned companies 44% of workers have a works council or comparable body, compared with 76% in state-owned companies, 65% in parts of the public sector and 63% in the non-profit sector.
These figures are in line with Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey 2024. This found that 61% of employees in Austria have representatives, in practice a works council or equivalent public sector body, where they work, This percentage is above the EU average of 53%. 40
A separate study, based on the 2019 European Company Survey, which only looks at workplaces with 10 or more employees, found that 23% had a works council or a public sector equivalent, again with the percentage increasing in larger workplaces – 79% in workplaces with more than 250 employees. 41 It is important to note that the Eurofound figures relate to the proportion of workplaces with works councils, while the national Chamber of Labour figures and Eurofound’s Working Conditions Survey both relate to the proportion of employees, and, as a result, are higher.
The role of unions
The works council is not directly a trade union body. It is elected by all employees and non-trade unionists can also stand. But in most cases the unions play a crucial part in its effective operation and figures from the 2022 Chamber of Labour study indicate 97% of works council members are union members, although the study recognises that this may be an overestimate. 42 The unions can be invited in to give advice, and in certain circumstances they can play a key role in initially setting up the works council and also offer support, such as training, information, legal and economic advice.
The reality of union influence over works councils is reflected in the fact that unlike in other countries where the works councils have similar powers, such as Germany or the Netherlands, it is very rare for there to be another separate trade union structure in the workplace. Works councils are the basic unit for union work. Its members distribute union material, and they play an active role in union campaigns and in mobilising and recruiting new union members.
Numbers and structure
Employees have the right to set up a works council in all workplaces with at least five employees (see table).
| Number of employees | Number of works council members |
| 5-9 | 1 |
| 10-19 | 2 |
| 20-50 | 3 |
| 51-100 | 4 |
| 101-200 | 5 |
| Above 200, the number of works council members increases by one for every 100 employees or part thereof until 1,000, after which it increases by one for every 400 or part thereof. | |
With a few exceptions (see below) all employees should be counted in calculating these numbers, including part-time employees, those on very limited hours, workers on unpaid leave and those undertaking military or civilian service or training. Agency workers should also be included, provided that they have been (or will be) in the workplace for at least six months and the employer where they work is responsible for some employer-style functions, such as agreeing holiday arrangements.
The groups who should not be counted are:
- those who are not classed as employees (senior managers with a substantial influence on the running of the business;
- individuals without an employment contract whose presence in the business is for other reasons, such as medical treatment, short-term release from prison or charitable work);
- homeworkers; and
- close relatives (such as spouses, parents, and grandparents, children and grandchildren) of the owner.
The works council consists of representatives of the workers – there is no management involvement – and, where there are at least five manual and non-manual workers, separate works council must be set up for each group. However, the manual and non-manual works council can come together in a works committee (Betriebsausschuss).
The operation of the works council
The works council should meet at least once a month and should have a joint meeting with the employer at least once every three months. This joint meeting can be monthly if the works council wishes. Where there is a works committee (Betriebsausschuss), it also meets monthly.
Other statutory representative structures
In addition to the works council the Austrian system provides for the setting up of a separate youth council (Jugendvertrauensrat – JVR) to represent young workers. This can be set up in any workplace where there are at least five employees aged under 18 (or under 21 if they are apprentices) and the members are elected for two years.
In addition, when at least five people with disability are employed in a workplace, a representative for disabled workers (Behindertenvertrauensperson) and a deputy should be elected. This goes up to two deputies when there are at least 15 disabled workers in the workplace. The role of these representatives is to take up the concerns of disabled and chronically ill employees by working with the works council.
Election and term of office
Works council members, who must be aged over 18, are elected by the whole workforce on the basis of lists. In smaller companies – those with fewer than 101 employees – candidates must be supported by at least twice the number of signatures as there are works council members. In larger companies, fewer signatures per works council place are needed. Often there will only be one list but there may sometimes be several, normally based around competing individuals. In very large workplaces there may be lists linked to the different political factions in the Austrian trade union movement, the ÖGB.
If there at least four works council members, in other words if there are more than 50 employees, one of them can be an external trade union representative, who is not employed at the workplace. In practice this is very rare.
The term of office is five years.
Tasks and rights
The legislation (Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG)) states that the purpose of the employee representation structure through the works council is to reconcile potentially opposing interests “for the benefit of the employees and the company”. 43
It sets out a series of powers held by the works council. These are:
- monitoring that the employer is acting in accordance with the relevant legislation and the applicable collective agreements;
- intervening in all areas which concern employee interests, with the ability to call on the employer or external bodies to take action to address the works council’s concerns;
- being informed by the employer of issues, which might affect employees’ economic, social health or cultural interests;
- being consulted by the employer at least once every three months, with the ability to ask a trade union representative to take part where important changes affecting the workforce are planned;
- being consulted on health and safety issues, including on the appointment or dismissal of health and safety staff, where the works council has an effective veto (see Health and safety representation);
- promoting policies relating to women and work-life balance at the workplace; and
- setting up and running welfare institutions for employees and their families. (Works councils are often involved in organising a range of cultural and social activities, such as works outings, as well as helping individual employees with problems outside the workplace.)
In addition, the legislation sets out the works council’s right to involvement (Mitwirkung) in three areas, and it is these which provide the works council with its clearest opportunity to influence developments at the workplace. The three areas are:
- social issues, which cover the concerns of the whole workforce;
- personnel issues, which affect individual employees; and
- economic issues, which relate to how the company is run.
The powers of the works council are generally greatest in social issues, slightly less in personnel issues, and much less in economic issues. 44 In some cases, the works council has a veto – the employer cannot act without signed agreement with the works council (Betriebsvereinbarung); in other cases the agreement of the works council can be replaced by the decision of an arbitration body (Schichtungsstelle); and in some cases the works council is simply consulted or just informed.
Social issues
The social issues where the employer requires the agreement works council before acting are:
- the introduction of a workplace disciplinary procedure;
- the introduction of detailed staff questionnaires that go beyond questions collecting general information on individuals and their technical skills;
- the introduction of monitoring and surveillance systems, where they affect human dignity; and
- the introduction of payment systems, based on piece rates or some other form of performance measurement, which can be statistically assessed.
In all these areas, if the works council does not agree, the company cannot act. It is not possible to take the issue to arbitration.
Where personal data is automatically collected and where data is used for personal evaluation, the agreement of the works council must again be sought. However, in these cases, if the works council does not agree, the employer can take the issue to arbitration, and a decision by the arbitration body has the same effect as an agreement with the works council.
There are also a series of social areas, where the employer can act without the agreement of the works council. However, the works council can ask that an agreement be reached, and, if this is not possible, take the issue to arbitration. (The employer also has the right to ask for arbitration in these cases.) The key areas where the works council has these rights are:
- work rules affecting employees’ general behaviour in the workplace, examples could be those relating to alcohol, or the arrangements for reporting sickness;
- working time arrangements, in particular normal starting and finishing times;
- issues relating to the payment of wages;
- arrangements for the use of agency workers;
- the operation of company training and education institutions and company welfare structures, like holiday homes or canteens;
- the use of company premises and equipment, such as company cars or company telephones;
- measures to reduce the impact of night shifts or arduous work; and
- measures to prevent, avoid or mitigate the impact of changes in the business.
This last area, covering changes to the business, only applies to workplaces with at least 20 employees, but is one of the works council’s most important rights as it opens the way to the negotiation of a so-called “social plan”, under which jobs can be saved and compensation can be paid, where major changes are foreseen. If the employer refuses to reach agreement on this, the works council can take the issue to arbitration.
As well as these areas, the legislation allows the works council to negotiate agreements with the employer in a wide range of other social areas, including, holiday arrangements, expenses, work organisation, pension arrangements and measures to improve the position of women. However, these agreements are entirely voluntary and do not provide for the possibility of taking the issue to arbitration.
Works councils are not primarily involved in negotiations on pay which are at industry level. However, in some cases works councils negotiate additional improvements as well as dealing with grading structures.
Personnel issues
In the area of personnel issues, which the legislation defines as those affecting individual employees, the works council has influence in a wide range of circumstances. The most significant are those relating to an employee’s dismissal, where the law varies depending on where the dismissal is immediate or with notice.
Where the dismissal is not immediate, the works council must be informed, if not the dismissal is unlawful. The works council has a week to respond, during which period it can ask for a consultation with the employer. The works council can challenge the employer’s decision, either because the reason for the dismissal is unjustified, for example because the individual is being dismissed for union membership, or because of the social consequences for the individual employee being dismissed. (This social consequences argument can only be used in companies employing more than 20 people and where the individual concerned has at least six months’ service.) In both cases, the issue goes to the labour and social court to decide, and where the social consequences argument is being presented, the court must assess the impact of the dismissal on the individual against the impact of not dismissing the individual on the company. The individual being dismissed can also challenge the dismissal in the court, but the backing of the works council is important, as without it the court cannot compare the circumstances of the individual being dismissed with those who are keeping their jobs.
In cases of immediate dismissal, typically for severe misconduct such as theft, the works council must be informed in three days and can again challenge the decision. However, the immediate dismissal is not unlawful if the employer fails to inform the work council on time.
Other personnel areas where the works council has significant powers include:
- disciplinary sanctions on an individual employee, which cannot be imposed without the works council’s agreement;
- permanent transfer of an employee to a less favourable position in the company, which also requires the works council’s agreement, although the employer can ask for the court to decide if the works council refuses;
- appointments, where the works council must be informed, including being given details of the tasks to be undertaken, the pay and the length of the probation period (it should also be informed of plans to take on agency staff); and
- promotions, where the works council should be informed and has a right to be consulted if it requests this.
Economic issues
In contrast to its powers in social and personnel areas, the works council has a much more limited range of rights on economic issues. It must be informed about the economic position of the company, including its financial position, as well as future developments. This includes information on production, orders, sales in terms of both their volume and value, investment plans and other measures intended to improve the company’s competitiveness. The works council also has the right to be consulted on these issues and is encouraged in the legislation to make its own proposals. The company is also required to provide the works council with a copy of the annual accounts.
The works councils should be particularly involved where changes to the workplace/company are planned. These include:
- closure or partial closure;
- redundancies which are sufficiently large to be reported to the labour market authorities;
- moving the business or part of the business;
- a merger with another company;
- a change in the purpose, facilities and organisation of the business and its affiliates;
- the introduction of new working methods;
- large-scale rationalisation and automation; or
- changes in the business’s legal form or ownership.
Appropriate information should be provided to the works council, including detailed information on employee numbers if a closure is planned, to allow the works council to form an opinion on the proposal and ask for consultation if necessary.
Where at least 20 employees are employed and the changes involve important disadvantages for the employees, the works council can ask the employer to agree measures which limit or mitigate the impact on employees –in other words draw up what is known as a “Social Plan – and is able to take the issue to arbitration if the employer is unwilling to reach agreement. (This possibility mirrors the works council’s rights in the social area – see: Social issues.)
In larger workplaces, those with 200 employees or more, where the works council considers that the planned changes or other measures could be damaging to the workforce, it has three days to raise objections. If the plans involve closures, the works council can require that their implementation is halted for four weeks and, if there is no agreement within a week, it can call for a special arbitration committee to be set up to decide the issue. In even larger workplaces, those with 400 employees or more, the issue can be taken further to the national economic committee.
The presence of works council members on the supervisory board of some companies (see Board-level employee representation) is also seen as one of the works council’s rights in economic issues.
In practice
The 2022 works council survey gives some indication of the issues works council members spend their time on. Asked about the areas they had been active in during the previous three years, the issue of appointments, dismissals and transfers topped the table, with 85% saying they had taken this up. This was followed by 80% saying they had dealt with questions of working time, 79% reporting on activity on workloads, work intensity and health, the same proportion saying they had dealt with pay questions, 77% taking up safety at work, 75% acting to resolve workplace conflicts, 74% dealing with welfare institutions at the workplace, 73% reporting activity on data protection and surveillance and 71% active on working from home. 45
At the other end of the scale 31% had been active on the environment and sustainability, and the same proportion on agency work.
Protection against dismissal
Members of the works council have a high level of protection against dismissal, as they cannot generally be dismissed without the prior approval of the labour court, and the court will only approve their dismissal in very tightly defined circumstances. 46
The acceptable reasons for dismissal of works council members are listed in two separate blocks.
The first block (§ 121 of the Work Constitution Act) covers the following three circumstances:
- where the workplace is being closed or permanently reduced in size, but only if the business owner can show that the works council member cannot continue to be employed (including in another location of the same company) without significant damage to the business owner;
- where the works council member is unable to carry out their work and is unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future and the business owner cannot be expected to accept an alternative employment which the works council member would be willing to undertake; and
- where the works council member has persistently failed to undertake the duties required by the employment contract requires and the business owner cannot be expected to continue their employment for reasons of work discipline.
The second block of circumstances where the court will approve the dismissal of a works council member(§ 122 of the Work Constitution Act) relates more specifically to the behaviour of the works council member. They apply where the works council member:
- has deliberately misled the business owner about important circumstances relating to their employment;
- is guilty of an offence, which may lead to a prison sentence of more than a year, or which involves at attempt at personal enrichment, provided that the prosecution has either been instituted by the authorities or the business owner;
- has been unfaithful in their service or, in the course of their work, has received unjustified benefits from third parties without the knowledge of the business owner;
- reveals trade or business secrets or conducts a detrimental business on the side without the agreement of the business owner; or
- is guilty of assault or serious defamation of the business owner, their family members or employees who work or are present in the company, if the consequence of this behaviour is that sensible cooperation between the works council member and the business owner can no longer be expected.
Where the works council member is accused under headings 1,2 and 5, they may be dismissed without waiting for a judgement in the labour court, which must be sought subsequently. If the court does not accept the business’ owner’s claim, the dismissal has no legal force.
In addition, where the works council member is being accused failing to undertake their duties (Item 3 of §121), being unfaithful in their service (first part of item 3 of §122) or being guilty of defamation or assault (item 5 of §122) and this is in relation to the performance of their duties as a works council member and can be excused, given the circumstances, they are protected against dismissal.
The right to protection against dismissal applies to works council members, replacement members if they are in post for at least two weeks, candidates for the works council and members of the electoral committee.
The protection begins when the works council member accepts their election and continues for three months beyond their period of office.
More generally works council members must not be disadvantaged in terms of pay, promotion opportunities and company training and retraining measures because of their role. They must also not be disadvantaged through transfers. (§115).
Time off and other resources
Works council members have the right to the paid time off necessary for them to represent the employees, and in larger workplaces one or more members spend all their time on works council duties, as set out below:
- in workplaces with 150 to 700 employees there is one full-time works council member;
- in those with 701 to 3,000 there are two;
- in those with more than 3,000 there are three; and
- thereafter this is one extra for every additional 3,000 employees.
In practice, the study of works councils carried out in 2022 found that 19% of works council members were full freed from their other duties. 47
The employer is also required to provide the works council with an office and the necessary office materials. The extent of this will depend on the size of the workplace. In large workplaces the employer may also provide a paid administrative worker for the works council.
As part of its right to information, the works council is entitled to the appropriate specialist literature and can be entitled to make use of an external experts, for example in relation to the accounts or the introduction of new technology.
In addition to the resources provided by the employer, the works council can collect funds from the employees, who must first have agreed this at a works meeting. The amount collected in this way, which is largely used for social events like works outings, cannot be more than 0.5% of each employee's gross pay.
Training rights
Each works council member has the right to up to three weeks and three days’ training leave during their five-year period in office. In workplaces with fewer than 20 employees this time off is unpaid, but in larger workplaces the employer must pay the works council member during training. Where there is a particular reason, for example, for additional health and safety or information technology training, this period can be extended to five weeks.
The courses must either be provided directly by appropriate employee or employer bodies (the unions, the chambers of labour and the economic chambers) or be courses these bodies have approved. The courses must transmit knowledge which is useful for the participants’ role as works council members. The employer must be given at least four weeks’ notice of each period of training, and the date of the training should be jointly agreed.
In practice, the study of works councils, carried out in 2022, shows that most works council members do not fully use their training time off rights. Over the previous three years, 28% had had no time off for training at all; 29% had had between one and five days; 22% had between six and 10 days; 19% had had 11 or more days, and 25% not know how much time off for training they had had. 48
In workplaces with more than 200 employees, one works council member can also have up to one year's unpaid training leave. Works council members who have already taken one year’s unpaid training leave do not have a right to the period of paid training leave.
Representation at group level
In cases where a business consists of several workplaces but operates as a single economic unit, a “central works council” (Zentralbetriebsrat) should be set up. This is intended to provide effective employee representation at the level at which decisions, particularly on economic issues, are being taken. It is a directly elected body with four members in companies with up to 1,000 employees, and an extra member for each additional 500 employees up to 5,000 in total, and then one for each additional 1,000 above 5,000.
It is also possible to set up a works council at group level in a group composed of several different companies, if the central works councils themselves decide to do so. (Two-thirds of the central works council members, representing more than half the employees must vote in favour of it being set up.) However, in contrast to the directly elected central works council, this “group works council” (Konzernbetriebsrat) is made up of delegates, on the basis of two delegates for each company with up to 500 employees, with an additional delegate for each additional 500 employees or part thereof. The purpose of the group works council is to represent the common interests of the employees in the group.
Employee representation at board level is widespread in Austria, with the works council choosing a third of the members of the supervisory board from its own ranks.
The extent of board-level employee representation
The works council has the right to choose one third of the representatives on the supervisory board in most of Austria’s larger companies.
All public limited companies (AGs) and most limited companies (GmbH) with at least 300 employees must have a supervisory board. (Limited companies which have fewer than 500 employers and are part of a group which has a supervisory board are not required to have one themselves.)
Supervisory boards in Austria have the following main functions:
- monitoring the executive board to ensure that it operates in the interest of the company;
- agreeing major decisions, such as large investments, changes in company strategy or company structure;
- the appointment and dismissal of the executive board (only in public limited companies – AGs);
- examination of the annual results;
- approval of the annual results (only public limited companies); and
- calling annual and extraordinary general meetings . 49
Where supervisory boards exist, the works council has the right to appoint one third of the members (see Nomination and election of employee representatives). The only exceptions are so-called “ideological companies” – companies whose purposes are primarily political, religious, educational or artistic, or produce news or comment. They are excluded from the obligation to have employee representatives on their supervisory boards.
There were 1,245 public limited companies in Austria in July 2018. 50 There are no similar figures for the number of limited companies required to have employee representatives on the supervisory board.
Nomination and election of employee representatives
The employee representatives on the board are chosen by the group works council, where this exists, and then the central works council or, if there is only one workplace, the works council. They must be works council members and employees of the business.
Employee representatives on supervisory boards have the same term of office as those representing shareholders. This is limited by legislation to a period ending at the annual general meeting following four full financial years in office. As supervisory members are normally appointed at the annual general meeting when the financial year has already begun, this first part-year does not count towards the total and neither does the period between the end of the fourth year and the next annual general meeting. In effect, therefore, the period of office is five years.
In an attempt to increase the proportion of women at the top of companies, since the start of 2018 there have been new rules on the proportion of both sexes in supervisory board, and these also apply to employee representatives. The 2018 rules state that in companies quoted on the stock exchange as well as in companies which regularly have more than 1,000 employees, at least 30% of the employee representatives must be a different sex to other employee representatives, provided at least three representatives are being chosen and at least 20% of the company’s employees are of this sex. If this 30% limit is not reached, the seats remain empty.
These rules are set to be strengthened with new legislation implementing the EU directive 2022/2381 on improving the gender balance among directors of listed companies. The Austrian parliament (Nationalrat) agreed in March 2026 that, in line with the directive, the percentage women (formally other sex) required would rise from 30% to 40%. 51
The rights of employee representatives
In most areas employee representatives have the same rights and duties as other supervisory board members, although they are not paid for this work. The exceptions relate to relations with the management board. The appointment and dismissal of members of the management board requires a decision by majority of the shareholder representatives on the supervisory board not just an overall majority, and their pay can be determined in a sub-committee from which employee representatives are excluded. (Employer representatives continue to have their full rights if the pay of management board members is decided in the full supervisory board.)
In terms of the impact of employee representation on supervisory boards, a separate report, based on the 2022 works council study, found that works council members on supervisory boards report a better relationship with management, easier access to information and more frequent examples of mutual cooperation with management, than works council members who were not on supervisory boards. 52
With works councils dominating national employee representation, it is not surprising to find that it is they that choose the representatives in European bodies.
European Works Councils
Members of the special negotiating body (SNB) for the EWC are appointed through the works council structures: by the group works council if there is a group works council; the central works council or councils if no group works council exists; and the works council or councils if there is no central works council. They should either be members of these bodies, trade union officials or representatives of the chamber of labour. 53
The situation is the same for members of the fallback EWC, as set up under the annex to the directive, except that trade union officials can only be members where they are already members of the Austrian works council – this possibility exists in theory but rarely in practice. Representatives of the chamber of labour cannot be members of the fallback EWC. 54
European Company
Members of the special negotiating body (SNB) for the European Company are appointed through the works council structures: by the group works council if there is a group works council; the central works council or councils if no group works council exists; and the works council or councils if there is no central works council. They should either be members of these bodies or trade union officials, but not, in this case, representatives of the chamber of labour 55
The situation is the same for members of the SE representative body (works council), as set up under the annex to the directive, except that trade union officials can only be members where they are already members of the Austrian works council – this possibility exists in theory but rarely in practice. 56
The same rules apply for Austrian employee representatives at board level. 57
The works council and specially appointed health and safety representatives are the key elements in employee health and safety representation. Although not elected, health and safety representatives can only be appointed with the agreement of the works council and should be appointed in workplaces with more than 10 employees. In workplaces with more than 100 employees (250 in offices) a health and safety committee should also be set up.
Employee health and safety bodies
The works council, which in theory should be set up in all workplaces with five or more employees, has an important role in health and safety. This is indicated in the results of a major study of works councils in 2022. This found that 79% of works council members had been active on the issues of workload, work intensity and health in the previous three years, and 77% on worker protection and safety, among the highest percentages of any areas of works council activity. 58
In addition to the works council, employers with more than 10 employees should appoint at least one health and safety representative (Sicherheitsvertrauensperson or SVP in German), an individual with particular responsibility for health and safety. Their appointment must be agreed with the works council, and the health and safety representative represents employees on health and safety issues, in agreement with the works council. However, their appointment does not change the fact that the responsibility for health and safety at works rests with the employer.
In larger workplaces, the employer must set up a health and safety committee (Arbeitschutzausschuss or ASA in German), which brings together the employer and employee representatives, as well as health and safety experts.
Numbers and structure
A works council should be set up if a workplace has more than five employees and its size increases in line with the number of employees (see table).
| Number of employees | Number of works council members |
| 5 to 9 | 1 |
| 10 to19 | 2 |
| 20 to 50 | 3 |
| 51 to 100 | 4 |
| 101 to 200 | 5 |
| The number of works council members then increases by one for every 100 employees until 1,000, when it increases by one for every 400. | |
The minimum number of health and safety representatives (SVP) appointed depends on the number of employees in the workplace, starting with one, when there are at least 11 employees. Up to 1,400 employees the numbers of health and safety representatives are as follows:
| Number of employees | Number of health and safety representatives |
| 11 to 50 | 1 |
| 51 to 100 | 2 |
| 101 to 300 | 3 |
| 301 to 500 | 4 |
| 501 to 700 | 5 |
| 701 to 900 | 6 |
| 901- 1,400 | 7 |
Above 1,400 employees one additional health and safety representative must be appointed for every 800 employees. 59
Where there are several health and safety representatives, they can appoint a chair who has a coordinating function.
A health and safety committee (ASA) must be established in workplaces with 100 or more employees (250 if at least three-quarters of the posts are in office work). It consists of the employer, or a representative of the employer, the individual responsible for adherence to health and safety procedures, the most senior health and safety expert, the occupational physician (sometimes known as the works doctor), health and safety representatives and a representative of the works council, or one from each works council if there is more than one. The meetings are chaired by the employer or the employer’s representative. 60
Where employer has several workplaces with their own health and safety committees, a central health and safety committee should be set up. This consists of the employer, or the employer’s representative, plus a maximum of two other individuals representing the employer, three representatives of the appropriate level work council and three members each from each of the lower-level health and safety committees. The three members are a health and safety representative, a health and safety expert and the occupational physician.
Research by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work in 2019 found that 70% of workplaces in Austria had health and safety representatives and 10% had a health and safety committee. The figure for health and safety representatives is well above EU27 average of 56%. However, the figure for health and safety committees, which in Austria are only obligatory in larger workplaces, is under half the EU27 average of 22%. (The figures are for workplaces with five or more employees.) 61
In a separate study, figures collected in Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey 2024 indicate that that 65% of employees in Austria report having an occupational health and safety delegate at the workplace. This percentage is above the EU average of 60%. 62
Tasks and rights
The works council must be consulted in good time about all issues relating to health and safety at work. In particular, it must be consulted about the introduction of new technologies, about the choice of production methods and material, the organisation of working conditions and the influence of work environmental factors on health and safety. It should also be involved in the choice of personal protective equipment and the identification and assessment of risks, as well as the counter measures taken and how this is communicated.
The employer is also required to give the works council:
- access to documents relating to health and safety and reports on accidents at work;
- information about work organisation;
- the results of measurements of dangerous substances, noise and other hazards, and records relating to these issues;
- information, including the reasons for the event and the measures taken where safety limit values are exceeded – to be provided immediately;
- information coming from the regulatory authorities, such as permits and official material and a right to be consulted in advance on information resulting from protective and preventative measures;
- a right to be consulted in advance about health and safety hazards and the measures taken to counter them, both in general and for the particular type of work being undertaken; and
- a right to be consulted in advance on information on health and safety hazards and action to counter them provided to the employer by external experts, as well as on the information they provide on first aid, fire prevention or the evacuation of staff.
The employer must consult with the works council on the proposed appointment or dismissal of health and safety experts or occupational physicians, as well those responsible for first aid, fire prevention and evacuation, unless these issues are dealt with in the health and safety committee. The works council has the right to invite the state labour inspectorate to the consultations, and appointments of health and safety experts and occupational physicians without the involvement of the works council or the health and safety committee are invalid.
If it chooses, however, the works council can delegate all these tasks to the health and safety representatives. In addition, where there is no works council, these tasks fall to the health and safety representatives.
Other than this, the main tasks of the health and safety representative in the area of health and safety are:
- to inform, advise and support employees;
- to inform, support advise and work with the works council;
- in agreement with the works council to represent the interests of the employees in dealings with the employer, the authorities and other bodies;
- to advise the employer in ensuring health and safety at work;
- to check that the appropriate equipment and procedures are in place and to inform the employer of any failings;
- to ensure that the measures provided for safety at work are used; and
- to work with safety experts and the occupational physician.
In addition, in all questions related to health and safety, health and safety representatives have a right to demand that the employer and other appropriate bodies implement the necessary measures, to make proposals for the improvement of working conditions, and to require that any failings are remedied. Employers must listen to the health and safety representatives in all questions related to health and safety. Health and safety representatives must also be consulted in advance about the use of any external organisations providing health and safety services and must be informed about the appointment or dismissal of health and safety experts, occupational physicians and personnel dealing with first aid, fire prevention or the evacuation of staff.
In addition, with the exception of information relating to the works council, the health and safety representatives have the same rights over access to documents, the results of measurements of dangerous substances, information from the regulatory authorities and so on, as the works council (see above).
The health and safety representative cannot be bound by instructions from the employer in the area of health and safety.
The role of the health and safety committee is essentially one of coordination, aiming to improve health and safety through an exchange of information and experience between all the workplaces belonging to the same employer. It is able to examine all issues relating to health and safety and in particular to discuss reports and proposals coming from health and safety representatives, health and safety experts and the occupational physicians.
There are, however, some rights, found in some other European countries, which are not present in the Austrian system. Neither the works council nor the health and safety representative has the right to carry out independent workplace assessments, to require that these assessments should be carried out by an external body, or to instruct that work should be stopped.
Frequency of meetings
The works council must meet monthly and the health and safety committee must meet at least once a year. However, there are no regulations on how frequently heath and safety representatives should meet, if there are several of them.
Election and term of office
Works council members are elected by the whole workforce for a period of five years. For more details see Election and term of office.
Health and safety representatives are appointed by the employer rather than elected. However, the works council must agree to their appointment, even where the individual is a member of the works council. If there is no works council, employees must be informed in writing of the name of the individual to be appointed and if at least one third of the employees object, another individual must be chosen.
In making the appointment the employer should take account of the gender breakdown of the workforce, and health and safety representatives must have appropriate experience and personal characteristics. They must also be appropriately trained (see Resources, time off and training).
Health and safety representative are appointed for a period of four years, although they can be removed earlier at the request of the works council, or, where there is no works council, at the request of a third of the employees.
Resources, time off and training
Works council members have the right to the paid time-off necessary for them to represent the employees and in larger workplaces one or more members does nothing but works council duties. In workplaces with 150 to 700 employees there is one full-time works council member; 701 to 3,000 - two; more than 3,000 - three; with one extra for every additional 3,000. They also have the right to up to three weeks’ and three days’ training during their period of office and should be given the facilities they need for their duties (see also Training rights).
Employers must also ensure that health and safety representatives have sufficient time, which should be paid working time, to undertake their duties, and employers should also provide the necessary means and support. They must also give health and safety representatives the opportunity to acquire and extend their technical knowledge, including a minimum 24 hours (three days) of training on health and safety issues during the first year, if they have not already received this.
Protection against dismissal
Members of the works council can in most cases only be dismissed if their dismissal has been previously approved by the labour court and the court will only approve their dismissal in very limited circumstances (see Protection against dismissal).
Health and safety representatives also have some protection. They may not suffer disadvantages because of their activities as health and safety representatives, in particular with reference to pay, promotion opportunities and transfers. The works council must be immediately informed if a health and safety representative is dismissed, and dismissal because of their activities as a health and safety representative is unlawful.
Other elements of workplace health and safety
The legislation provides that all workplaces, irrespective of size, should have access to the services of a health and safety expert and an occupational physician. In workplaces with up to 50 employees (provided that the company as a whole does not employ more than 250 people) these services are provided free of charge by the accident insurance body. In addition, the employer can take on the functions of the health and safety expert in workplaces with up to 50 employees, although he or she needs specialist training if there are 25 or more.
National context
The main ministry responsible for health and safety at work is the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection (Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit und Konsumentenschutz – BMASK). The main official health and safety inspection and monitoring body in Austria is the Labour Inspectorate (Arbeitsinspektion), with separate bodies covering agriculture and forestry, public sector workers and religious institutions.
Trade unions and employers have a guaranteed role in health and safety at national level through their participation in the tripartite Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Board (Arbeitnehmerschutzbeirat), set up under the main health and safety legislation. The unions and the employers each have two representatives. 63
Legal changes, which came into effect from January 2013, reinforced the importance of mental health and the prevention of work-related mental stress in ensuring health and safety at work. They make it clear that health includes both physical and mental health, and they include a requirement that an assessment of the adequacy of the measures in place should be undertaken after incidents, such as an attack or a high level of complaints.
Key legislation
Federal Law on Health and Safety at Work (Employee Protection Act)
Bundesgesetz über Sicherheit und Gesundheitsschutz bei der Arbeit
(ArbeitnehmerInnenschutzgesetz - ASchG)
- 1
For a detailed examination of trade unions in Austria see Austria: Trade unions in a world of ‘contested stability’? by Vera Glassner and Julia Hofmann in Trade Unions in the European Union, edited by Jeremy Waddington, Torsten Müller and Kurt Vandaele, Peter Lang, 2023 https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/2023-06/Chapter2_%20Austria_Trade%20unions%20in%20a%20world%20of%20contested%20stability_2023.pdf
- 2
ÖGB Mitgliederstatistik und Mitgliederbewegung seit 1945, ÖGB, https://www.oegb.at/der-oegb/der-oegb-in-zahlen
- 3
Statistics Austria STATcube Austria Micro census Labour Forces Survey Quarterly Data
- 4
Trade Union Density in Austria: New Evidence from Tax Records, by Lukas Lehner and Emanuel List, 17 January 2025, Research Note https://www.wu.ac.at/fileadmin/wu/d/ri/ineq/Projekte/UnionPro/2024_RN_Trade_Union_Density_Austria_01.pdf
- 5
ÖGB PensionistInnen, Österreichische Seniorenrat https://www.seniorenrat.at/de/mitglieder/1615
- 6
OECD/AIAS ICTWSS database: trade union density, OECD, 2025 https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecdaias-ictwss-database.html
- 7
ÖGB Mitgliederstatistik: Gesamt nach Gewerkschaften ÖGB 2025 https://www.oegb.at/content/dam/oegb/downloads/der-%C3%B6gb/der-%C3%B6gb-in-zahlen/%C3%96GB_Mitgliederstatistik_Gewerkschaften_2025.pdf
- 8
Was sind Gewerkschaften? by Richard Ondraschek, VÖGB, 2022 https://www.voegb.at/content/dam/voegb/downloads/skipten/gewerkschaftskunde/Was%20sind%20Gewerkschaften.pdf and ÖGB Statuten §4 https://www.oegb.at/content/dam/oegb/downloads/der-%C3%B6gb/GK_4_Statuten_und_Gesch%C3%A4ftsordnung%20WEB%2006022024.pdf
- 9
Freie Gewerkschaft Österreichs, https://www.fgoe.at/
- 10
Asklepios-Chronologie, https://www.aerztegewerkschaft.at/ueber-uns/asklepios-chronologie
- 11
Geschäftsordnung des ÖGB, ÖGB, July 2023 https://www.oegb.at/content/dam/oegb/downloads/der-%C3%B6gb/GK_4_Statuten_und_Gesch%C3%A4ftsordnung%20WEB%2006022024.pdf
- 12
Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz, §4 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
- 13
ÖGB-Mitgliederstatistik und Mitgliederbewegung seit 1945, ÖGB, https://www.oegb.at/der-oegb/der-oegb-in-zahlen
- 14
Statistics Austria STATcube Austria Micro census Labour Forces Survey Quarterly Data
- 15
OECD/AIAS ICTWSS database: trade union density, OECD, 2025 https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecdaias-ictwss-database.html
- 16
Statistics Austria STATcube Austria Micro census Labour Forces Survey Annual Data
- 17
Trade Union Density in Austria: New Evidence from Tax Records, by Lukas Lehner and Emanuel List, 17 January 2025, Research Note https://www.wu.ac.at/fileadmin/wu/d/ri/ineq/Projekte/UnionPro/2024_RN_Trade_Union_Density_Austria_01.pdf
- 18
For a more detailed examination of collective bargaining in Austria, see Austria: from gradual change to an unknown future by Vera Glassner and Julia Hofmann, in Collective bargaining in Europe: towards an endgame, edited by Torsten Müller, Kurt Vandaele and Jeremy Waddington, ETUI, 2019 https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/CB1-Chapitre%2B2.pdf
- 19
OECD/AIAS ICTWSS collective bargaining coverage, OECD, 2025 https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecdaias-ictwss-database.html
- 20
Who sets wages? The legal and institutional foundations of collective bargaining in Austria by Sepp Zuckerstätter, Arbeiterkammer Wien, September 2025 https://journals.akwien.at/index.php/wug/article/view/250/258
- 21
Geschichte der Sozialwirtschaft Österreich, SWÖ, https://www.swoe.at/1058,,,2.html
- 22
Öffentlicher Dienst: Einigung auf Gehaltsabschluss bis 2028, OÖN, 7 October 2025 https://www.nachrichten.at/politik/innenpolitik/oeffentlicher-dienst-einigung-auf-gehaltsabschluss-bis-2028;art385,4094700
- 23
Who sets wages? The legal and institutional foundations of collective bargaining in Austria by Sepp Zuckerstätter, Arbeiterkammer Wien, September 2025 https://journals.akwien.at/index.php/wug/article/view/250/258
- 24
Satzung von Kollektivverträgen, Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz https://www.sozialministerium.gv.at/Themen/Arbeit/Arbeitsrecht/Entlohnung/Kollektivvertraege.html
- 25
Metaller-KV: Ein Viertel der Unternehmen kann unter vereinbarter IST-Lohnerhöhung bleiben, Industrie Magazin, 07.12.2023, https://industriemagazin.at/metall-rohstoffe-stahl/metaller-kv-schrauben-an-der-wettbewerbssicherungsklausel/
- 26
See Guide on Article 11 of the Convention – Freedom of assembly and association, European Court of Human Rights, 31.08.2025 https://ks.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr-ks/guide_art_11_eng
- 27
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Official Journal of the European Union, 26.10.2012 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:12012P/TXT
- 28
Österreichische Streikstatistik seit 1945,ÖGB, 2026 https://www.oegb.at/content/dam/oegb/downloads/der-%C3%B6gb/der-%C3%B6gb-in-zahlen/%C3%96GB_Streikstatistik_2025.pdf
- 29
Lohnplus deutlich unter Inflation, ORF, 22.09.2025 https://orf.at/stories/3406222/ and Öffentlicher Dienst: Einigung auf Gehaltsabschluss bis 2028, ÖON, 07.11.2025 https://www.nachrichten.at/politik/innenpolitik/oeffentlicher-dienst-einigung-auf-gehaltsabschluss-bis-2028;art385,4094700
- 30
OECD/AIAS ICTWSS collective bargaining coverage, OECD, 2025 https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecdaias-ictwss-database.html
- 31
Die Abschaffung der Zwangsmitgliedschaft ist fällig, JUNOS, 03.11.2025 https://www.ots.at/presseaussendung/OTS_20251103_OTS0033/junos-ad-wirtschaftskammer-die-abschaffung-der-zwangsmitgliedschaft-ist-faellig
- 32
AK wehrt sich gegen Attacken von FPÖ und NEOS, ORF, 30.08.2023 https://orf.at/stories/3329282/
- 33
For more details see Collective bargaining and minimum wage regime in Austria by Vera Glassner, Julia Hofmann, Arbeiterkammer Wien, ETUI, 2025 https://www.etui.org/sites/default/files/2025-06/Austria_Collective%20bargaining%20and%20minimum%20wage%20regime_2025.pdf
- 34
Ibid
- 35
Mindestlohntarife, , Bundesministerium für Arbeit, Soziales, Gesundheit, Pflege und Konsumentenschutz https://www.sozialministerium.gv.at/Themen/Arbeit/Arbeitsrecht/Entlohnung/Mindestlohntarife-und-Lehrlingseinkommen.html#mindestlohntarife-01-1
- 36
Sozialpartner: Geschichte, Die Sozialpartner Österreich https://www.sozialpartner.at/?page_id=1115
- 37
Beirat, Die Sozialpartner Österreich https://www.sozialpartner.at/?page_id=133
- 38
The legislation covering works councils is the Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG), particularly §50 to §88b https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
- 39
Mitbestimmung In Österreich 2022: Gesamtbericht, Chapter 5.2 by Eva Zeglovits, et al, Arbeiterkammer Wien, 2023 https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/api/v1/records/AC16860719/files/source/AC16860719.pdf
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European Working Conditions Survey 2024: Overview report, Figure 43, Eurofound 2026 https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/publications/all/european-working-conditions-survey-2024-overview-report
- 41
European Company Survey 2019 - Workplace practices unlocking employee potential, by Gijs van Houten and Giovanni Russo, Eurofound 2020, Figures for Table 72 https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/system/files/2020-11/ef20001en.pdf
- 42
Mitbestimmung In Österreich 2022: Gesamtbericht, Chapter 8.2 by Eva Zeglovits, et al, Arbeiterkammer Wien, 2023 https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/api/v1/records/AC16860719/files/source/AC16860719.pdf
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Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz, §39 (1) https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
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For more details see Betriebsrat – Personalvertretung Rechte und Pflichten by Gottfried W. Sommer, ÖGB/AK Österreich, 2022 (reprinted 2025) https://www.voegb.at/content/dam/voegb/downloads/skipten/arbeitsrecht/AR-19%2003-2025_WEB_28Jul2025.pdf
- 45
Mitbestimmung In Österreich 2022: Gesamtbericht, Chapter 6.5.2 (Table 25) by Eva Zeglovits, et al, Arbeiterkammer Wien, 2023 https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/api/v1/records/AC16860719/files/source/AC16860719.pdf
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Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG) § 120, 121 and 122 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
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Mitbestimmung In Österreich 2022: Gesamtbericht, Chapter 6.2.2 by Eva Zeglovits, et al, Arbeiterkammer Wien, 2023 https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/api/v1/records/AC16860719/files/source/AC16860719.pdf
- 48
Mitbestimmung In Österreich 2022: Gesamtbericht, Chapter 6.6.2 by Eva Zeglovits, et al, Arbeiterkammer Wien, 2023 https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/api/v1/records/AC16860719/files/source/AC16860719.pdf
- 49
Mitwirkung im Aufsichtsrat by Helmut Gahleitner, VÖGB/AK, April 2024 (reprinted June 2025)https://www.voegb.at/content/dam/voegb/downloads/skipten/wirtschaft-recht-mitbestimmung/WRM_02_WEB_04Jun2025.pdf
- 50
ibid
- 51
Nationalrat: Dreierkoalition beschließt Frauenquote von 40 % für Aufsichtsräte börsenotierter Unternehmen, Nationalrat, 25.03.2026 https://www.parlament.gv.at/aktuelles/pk/jahr_2026/pk0244
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Betriebliche Mitbestimmung in Aufsichtsräten Sonderauswertung „Betriebliche Mitbestimmung 2022, IFES,2025 https://wien.arbeiterkammer.at/service/betriebsrat/ifam/erfolgsfaktor_mitbestimmung/IFES-Bericht-betriebliche-Mitbestimmung-in-Aufsichtsraeten-2.pdf
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Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG) § 179 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
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Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG) § 193 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
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Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG) § 217-218 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
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Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG) § 234 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
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Work Constitution Act Arbeitsverfassungsgesetz (ArbVG) § 247 https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/GeltendeFassung.wxe?Abfrage=Bundesnormen&Gesetzesnummer=10008329
- 58
Mitbestimmung In Österreich 2022: Gesamtbericht, Chapter 6.5.2 (Table 25) by Eva Zeglovits, et al, Arbeiterkammer Wien, 2023 https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/api/v1/records/AC16860719/files/source/AC16860719.pdf
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Sicherheitsvertrauenspersonen, Arbeitsinspektion, https://www.arbeitsinspektion.gv.at/Uebergreifendes/Uebergreifendes/Sicherheitsvertrauenspersonen.html
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Arbeitsschutzausschuss, Arbeitsinspektion https://www.arbeitsinspektion.gv.at/Uebergreifendes/Uebergreifendes/Arbeitsschutzausschuss.html
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Third European Survey of Enterprises on New and Emerging Risks (ESENER 2019): Overview Report How European workplaces manage safety and health, European Agency for Safety and Health at Work https://osha.europa.eu/en/publications/esener-2019-overview-report-how-european-workplaces-manage-safety-and-health
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European Working Conditions Survey 2024: Overview report, Figure 41, Eurofound 2026 https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/publications/all/european-working-conditions-survey-2024-overview-report
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For more information on the national context see OSH system at national level – Austria by Réka Zayzon, Carsten Brück and Charlotte Salomon, OSH Wiki https://oshwiki.eu/wiki/OSH_system_at_national_level_-_Austria