Employment bonus

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The employment bonus is or was a subsidy applicable to Austria between July 1, 2017 and January 31, 2018, towards non-wage labor costs for companies that hired additional employees during this period who were previously employed in Germany or were trained in Germany. This form of wage subsidy should stimulate the labor market and at the same time curb the influx of workers from other countries .

The “Employment Bonus” measure expired in January 2018 and, with certain exceptions when hiring replacement workers, only applications received by the aws by January 31, 2018 have been processed.

Funding conditions

Companies are to be reimbursed half of the non-wage costs paid for newly created jobs for a period of up to three years. The employment bonus applies to the employment of

A certain minimum length of employment is required for the grant. Jobs that are filled with new workers from abroad are not funded.

If a job is already subsidized in a similar way in another way, for example through a grant for start-ups, it cannot be additionally funded because double funding is excluded. The conversion of temporary employment relationships is also not funded.

development

The employment bonus should stimulate the labor market and at the same time curb the influx of workers from other countries.

The Federal Chancellery initially estimated the cost of the bonus at up to three billion euros . At the beginning of May 2017, the Council of Ministers promised a funding amount of two billion euros for the employment bonus for the period up to 2023.

On June 22, 2017, the relevant law was passed in the National Council's Economic Committee with the votes of the governing parties SPÖ and ÖVP . The employment bonus came into effect on July 1, 2017; the first payouts were due in July 2018.

In January 2018, the "Employment Bonus" measure expired by circular resolution of the Federal Government Kurz I, which has been in office since December 2017 . Only applications received by the aws by January 31, 2018 will be or have been processed. However, if an employee for whom the employment bonus was granted leaves the company prematurely after the originally applied employment relationship has existed for at least four months, an application for an employment bonus can continue to be made for a replacement employee under certain funding requirements.

According to media reports from the beginning of 2018, the coalition planned to generally lower non-wage labor costs instead of continuing the employment bonus.

Over the period up to January 31, 2018, a total of 14,673 applications for a total of 79,300 employees were submitted, with a total funding volume of 1.13 billion euros.

criticism

Prior to the launch, concerns were raised that the employment bonus would conflict with EU state aid law, which would mean that companies would have to repay the grant. In particular, it was criticized that the bonus constitutes indirect discrimination against EU citizens . The Ministry of Economic Affairs , on the other hand, was of the opinion that the funding complied with EU law, as it was not based on citizenship or residence.

It was criticized that it was foreseeable that corporations with high personnel requirements or fluctuation would receive the greatest support.

The measure was partly criticized as protectionist .

The EU Commission found the employment bonus to be compatible with state aid law , but expressed doubts as to whether it was compatible with the free movement of workers .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Government initiates employment bonus. SPÖ, May 3, 2017, accessed June 10, 2017 .
  2. ^ Ralf Leonhard: Ralf Leonhard on an employment bonus in Austria: Austria first. taz, February 24, 2017, accessed June 10, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e What the employment bonus brings. kurier.at, May 4, 2017, accessed June 10, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b There is still a need to talk about the employment bonus. Salzburger Nachrichten, May 12, 2017, accessed on June 10, 2017 .
  5. ↑ As of July 1, the ancillary wage costs for new employees will be reduced. APA-OTS, June 23, 2017, accessed June 28, 2017 .
  6. ↑ a b black-blue could tip employment bonus. In: The press. November 30, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Schwarz-Blau discontinued the employment bonus and campaign 20,000. In: kurier.at. January 1, 2018, accessed January 7, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Lecture to the Council of Ministers regarding the suspension of the “Employment Campaign 20,000” measure and the expiry of the “Employment Bonus” measure due to economic policy considerations. Federal Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection and Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy , December 29, 2017, accessed on January 7, 2018 .
  9. ↑ How you can still use the employment bonus today. In: newsroom.sparkasse.at. February 23, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  10. ↑ a b Leopold Stefan: Thousands took advantage of the employment bonus at the last minute. In: derStandard.at. February 1, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  11. ↑ Bavaria criticizes Vienna's “employment bonus”. Bayernkurier, March 7, 2017, accessed on June 28, 2017 .