Holidays in Austria
The public holidays in Austria or non-working days are either made binding under federal or state law or agreed by collective agreement between the social partners .
public holidays
The public holidays according to federal law are regulated in the Rest Work Act and the Holiday Rest Act. On the basis of Section 7 of the Rest Period Act, there are 13 public holidays for everyone. Section 7a of the Work Rest Act also guarantees employees an additional day per year, which they can consume unilaterally as a vacation day, colloquially this is referred to as a " personal holiday ".
A specialty concerns the members of the Israelite Faith Community : on the basis of a supplement to the general collective agreement of March 6, 1953 for Yom Kippur, they are free from work. The general collective agreement of 1952 itself is still in force, but the provisions contained therein, which only apply to members of the Evangelical Churches AB and HB, the Old Catholic Church and the Evangelical Methodist Church and provide for special regulations for Good Friday, have been ineffective since 2019 . General event regulations still apply to this day.
In addition, there are public holidays under state law that only apply in the respective federal states and often only affect schools, offices and authorities there. These are especially those of the national patron .
Of the 13 public holidays, eight are based on the Concordat between the Republic of Austria and the Holy See , which was signed in the Vatican on June 5, 1933 and which came into force on May 1, 1934 under Federal Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss . The Concordat protects the following eight public holidays in addition to Sundays: New Year's Day (January 1st), Epiphany (January 6th), Ascension Day, Corpus Christi, Assumption Day (August 15th), All Saints Day (November 1st), the day of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th) and Christmas Day (December 25th).
Legal holidays
The public holidays according to § 7 Rest of Work Act (Public Holiday Rest) and § 1 Public Holiday Rest Act 1957 are those that - with one exception - apply to all Austrians regardless of religious affiliation.
The holidays highlighted in yellow below are not generally non-working days according to the Rest Period Act, but are subject to other regulations.
The public holidays regulated in the collective agreements are marked with (KV). For example, in the area of the telecommunications collective agreement, December 24th and 31st are day off, and holiday pay is due for necessary work.
In retail, working hours end at 2 p.m. on December 24, and at 5 p.m. on December 31, an overtime surcharge of 50% applies for any working time beyond this, provided that there is a permissible exception (e.g. sale of Christmas trees) .
The ecclesiastical holidays of Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday are not separately designated as they inevitably fall on a Sunday.
- (KV) Free or partially free according to the collective agreement
- (2) If December 8th falls on a working day, workers may be employed in sales outlets under special conditions.
- (3) Until 2003 also a public holiday at Upper Austrian schools.
- (4) Has only been celebrated as a public holiday since 2004 - not a general holiday.
- (5) Public holiday according to state law, often only affects schools, offices and authorities.
- (6)The total number of public holidays free for all employees in Austria is 13 days or, if (2) occurs, 12 days. The total number is reduced by one day if Ascension Day falls on May 1st (national holiday), but after 2008 this will not apply again until 2160.
Event restrictions
In most federal states, "events that [do not] do justice to the character of the day" or "are likely to hurt the religious feelings of the population" are prohibited on Good Friday by the respective event law and in some federal states also on December 24th. Events that go beyond midnight usually do not have to be canceled.
- In Carinthia, events are generally prohibited on Good Friday and on December 24th and those on Holy Saturday may only start at 2 p.m. This also applies to sporting events with an audience (but not to bets on such) and theater performances, even if violations have not been reported for a long time and it has only been taken into account since 2012 after the public discussion about an ice hockey game. The cinemas were open in 2012, in 2013 and 2014 it was different depending on the company, some were displayed.
- According to Section 1 (2 ), the prohibition does not apply to historical traditional events (such as Easter markets); existing jukeboxes; Events on public streets and squares without musical performances or buildings requiring approval; Dancing lessons; Operation of outdoor sports facilities without structural or technical facilities (e.g. natural ice rink and golf course); Ski slopes; Commercial betting on the occasion of sporting events; Slot machines; Peep shows, striptease demonstrations, table dance according to the Carinthian Prostitution Act; Events under the exclusive legal competence of the federal government (e.g. federal museums, the armed forces and the federal police in the fulfillment of their statutory tasks, under the federal gaming monopoly, according to the assembly law, for the exercise of a belief or a worldview, games in commercial establishments with Sunday opening (train station kiosk, petrol station), exhibitions of samples and goods by traders); Exhibitions in museums or archives; Kindergarten, school and home events for educational purposes; Agricultural and forestry exhibitions.
- In Upper Austria, the provision was omitted with the amalgamation of the Events Act and the Theater Act to form the Event Safety Act on January 1, 2008. According to Section 7 (5) of this Act, even notifiable events may not be prohibited for religious or political reasons and no related requirements, conditions and time limits are prescribed .
- In Styria, the provision by the Styrian Events Act 2012 is repealed on November 1st, 2012.
| Events | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | W. | N | B. | O | S. | T | V | St. | K |
| Good Friday | G | G | G | G | G | ||||
| Holy Saturday | until 14 O 'clock | ||||||||
| 24th of December | G | G | G | G | G | ||||
| State or national mourning according to ordinance | G | G | G | G | |||||
| Legal basis | Section 26 WVAG | § 2 NöVAG | Section 16 BVAG | Section 7 OöVASiG | Section 22 SVAG | Section 20 TVAG | Section 9 VVAG | StVAG | § 8 KVAG |
| special cinema regulations | |||||||||
| Good Friday | G | ||||||||
| 24th of December | G | ||||||||
| State or national mourning according to ordinance | |||||||||
| Legal basis | Section 17 Kino-G | - | - | - | - | - | - | § 0 Lichtsp-G | - |
Legend:
G forbidden
G according to the character of the day
G according to the character of the day and not offending religious feelings
no restriction
In Austria there was only a dance ban in Tyrol (until 2004) and in Upper Austria (until 2007).
See also
- Public holidays in Germany (with moving public holidays), Switzerland and other countries
Web links
- Search public holiday , help.gv.at - dates
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Catholic Church Austria: Overview of public holidays in Austria ; accessed on Jan 23. 2019
- ^ Chamber of Commerce: General Collective Agreement on Good Friday, Day of Atonement, Appendix. Retrieved April 13, 2020 .
- ↑ Federal Law Gazette I No. 22/2019
- ↑ Concordat between the Holy See and the Republic of Austria StF: Federal Law Gazette II No. 2/1934 (as amended online, ris.bka ).
- ↑ WKÖ : collective agreement for employees in telecommunications companies valid from January 1, 2007.
- ↑ WKÖ: opening times on the 4 Christmas Saturdays 2007
- ↑ The High Women's Day , accessed on August 15, 2013
- ↑ Event laws of the federal states, concerning Good Friday
- ↑ Ice hockey match takes place on Good Friday. In: kaernten.orf.at. March 30, 2012, accessed March 23, 2015 .
- ^ "Black Friday" for organizers. In: kleinezeitung.at. April 5, 2012, accessed March 23, 2015 .
- ↑ Many doors remain closed on Good Friday. In: kleinezeitung.at. April 17, 2014, accessed March 23, 2015 .
- ^ A b Karl Gaulhofer: Whoever dances here breaks the law. In: DiePresse.com. March 31, 2012, archived from the original on December 25, 2016 .