Civil service in Austria
The civil service in Austria is the alternative military service in Austria. Since 1975, military service can be refused for reasons of conscience, but community service must be performed instead. The civil service usually includes activities in the social environment, such as in hospitals , youth centers , old people's homes , in the ambulance service and patient transport or in the care of the disabled. Ordinary community service lasts nine months, and more than 40% of fit men (13,466 in 2018) explain their conscience and then do their alternative military service. Women are not subject to compulsory military service and are therefore also excluded from civil service, which is only a substitute military service.
history
Under the Kreisky II government , under pressure from pacifist associations, community service was introduced. Even the army of the civil service was not wrong, because weapons objectors represented a disturbing factor for the normal sooner. Once the civil service has been determined, a civil servant in Austria is no longer required to do military service and can therefore not be called up for military service.
Although the civil service was anchored in constitutional law at the same time as the military service , it should be the exception. First of all, conscientious objectors had to justify their conscience before a commission in a credible manner. If these reasons of conscience were recognized, civilian service of eight months (the same length as the basic military service) had to be performed. Since the amendment to the Civilian Service Act in 1991, a formal declaration is sufficient to be admitted to civilian service. After the number of civil servants rose sharply with the abolition of the examination of conscience , civil service was extended in steps from 1992 to ten months, then to eleven months and from 1997 to twelve months ( de facto with two weeks vacation entitlement).
From April 1, 2002 to September 30, 2005, the Zivildienstverwaltungs Ges.mbH , a subsidiary of the Austrian Red Cross , was responsible for assigning civil servants on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior, which was responsible at the time . This responsibility ended because the Constitutional Court regarded the allocation as a core area of state administration and demanded incorporation into the Federal Ministry of the Interior, which was then responsible. Since October 1, 2005, the civil service agency , which has been legally subordinate to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism since 2020 , has been responsible for civil service administration in the first instance.
Following the recommendations of the Army Reform Commission , military service was shortened to six months in 2004. The duration of community service was also appropriately adjusted in January 2006 (now nine months), with those doing community service being given the option of voluntarily extending their service time by three months (with better pay under private law).
Departments
Currently (as of 2019) there are around 1,700 facilities where community service providers are on duty. The organization where most of the people doing alternative military service have to do their service is the Austrian Red Cross . In addition, many civil servants are employed in the field of care in old people's homes , in hospitals or as administrative employees and as school guides for the respective state police headquarters . Other organizations are e.g. B. the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund , kindergartens , voluntary fire brigades or other social institutions such as in the field of disabled or refugee care . Less widespread is employment as an "agricultural farm worker" in agriculture ; the largest provider in this area is the agricultural association Maschinenring .
Areas of application
The areas of application in which community service providers are used are divided into various areas, but the largest part is used in rescue services:
- Rescue services: 39.2%
- Disability assistance: 17.5%
- Social assistance: 12.3%
- Care for the elderly: 10.6%
- Hospitals: 6.8%
- Asylum system: 3.8%
- Child care: 2.7%
- Disaster relief and civil protection: 2.6%
- Agricultural aid: 1.1%
- Public safety, school route safety: 1.1%
Ordinary community service
After only 344 men were doing alternative military service in 1975, the number of civilian servants increased to over 16,600 reports by 2014. From 2015 to 2018, the opposite trend was evident. In 2019 there was again a proportional increase, but due to the low birth rate, the actual number continues to decline. From January 2021, the so-called partial fitness will be introduced in Austria, whereby all men who are not physically or mentally handicapped must be available primarily for civil service (but also for military service).
Regional differences
There are strong regional differences in civil service applications, while in Vorarlberg (52.8%) and Vienna (53.5%) more than half of the fit men reported for civil service (as of 2014), it was only slightly more in Carinthia than a quarter (26.3%) of fit male citizens. In 2018, 66% of all fit men in Vienna registered for alternative service.
Community service reports
- 2015: 15,888 (48.65%) of 32,659 fit men
- 2016: 14,987 (46.16%) of 32,468 fit men
- 2017: 13,932 (45.79%) of 30,815 fit men
- 2018: 13,466 (43.82%) of 30,728 fit men
- 2019: approx.13,100 (44%) of approx.29,800 fit men
Extraordinary community service
In times of crisis, there is also the possibility of obliging people who are obliged to perform civilian service who have already performed regular civilian service to perform civilian service to the extent necessary in terms of personnel and time. As a legal basis for this, Section IV (Sections 21 to 21a ) of the Civil Service Act offers the option of “extraordinary civil service”, also known colloquially as “special civil service”, for men under 50.
For the first time in 2020, in the course of the coronavirus pandemic, it was promised that former community service workers would be required from 2015-2019 to ensure medical care if not enough volunteers came forward. In addition, it was announced that men in civil service would be obliged to do extraordinary civil service after completing their regular civil service. At the beginning of April 2020, for the first time in the history of civilian service in Austria, 3,500 extraordinary civilian service workers began service, of which around 2,000 were former civilian service workers who had volunteered for service, as well as 1,500 men who had completed their regular civilian service for three months were obliged to perform extraordinary community service. In the following months, however, no other community service workers had to be forcibly assigned to an extraordinary community service, as enough volunteers registered. The extraordinary community service workers were used, among other things, for the care and support of the elderly as well as for ambulance and rescue transports. After the number of extraordinary civil servants had already been sharply reduced in June 2020, the deployment of the last special civil servants was officially ended on July 31, 2020.
Substitute service to regular community service
Foreign service
Since 1992 it has been possible to do your community service as a foreign service . Andreas Maislinger took over the idea from Aktion Sühnezeichen Friedensdienste . The international service is actually not officially a regular civil service, but a substitute service, which, however, means that you are no longer assigned to regular civil service. Such a foreign service lasts twelve months and three options for completion:
Many places abroad are very popular, which is why people subject to civil service often have to wait years for the place they want.
Voluntary service abroad as part of Erasmus +
Since 2016, the performance of a voluntary service as part of Erasmus + can be counted as a replacement for community service if it lasts at least ten months.
Voluntary environmental year
Since 2013, the Voluntary Environment Year (FUJ) can be completed as a substitute for community service with a minimum duration of ten months. In Austria, the FUJ offers young people aged 17 and over the opportunity to get involved in environmental and sustainability issues.
Voluntary social year
Since 2016 it has been possible to do the voluntary social year (FSJ) instead of community service at the terms of the FSJ. The FSJ has several advantages over conventional community service:
- Family allowance and child tax credit can continue to be drawn (if this entitlement exists)
- Max. 34 hours per week instead of max. 45 for community service
- 5 weeks time off instead of 2 weeks for community service
- Possibility to defer until the age of 28
However, this is offset by the longer duration of at least ten months of the FSJ.
Similar to the extraordinary community service, there is the possibility of doing an extraordinary FSJ in times of crisis . It is open to all women and men who have already completed an FSJ for a period of one to nine months.
"Civil Servant of the Year" award
Every year, the civil service agency recognizes special and exceptional achievements in the context of civil service. The idea of this award is the corresponding appreciation of people who have been particularly committed to the approximately 14,000 annual community service. Nine state winners will be chosen and a national winner will be appointed from this group. Under certain circumstances, two civil servants can also be appointed as state winners - for example, if a project has been implemented together in a civil service facility.
Nominations are made by the community service facility itself - self-nomination is not permitted. The criteria for nomination are ongoing completion of community service or completion in the past year. For the nomination, people are eligible who "set an example for others through special commitment, high social skills, moral courage or through contributions to the better coexistence of people of different origins ".
Sometimes a special award is also given to civil servants who do their civil service in the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). While the Ministry of the Interior was responsible, the "Civil Servant of the Year" was traditionally honored in the premises of the Palais Modena , the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of the Interior in Herrengasse in Vienna, and was carried out by the Interior Minister or, as in 2019, by the State Secretary in the Interior Ministry.
Catering
For years there was a controversy in Austria about the catering situation for civil servants. In 2001, an amendment to the Civil Service Act (ZDG) came into force, which stipulated that the legal entities of the institutions “... have to ensure that those performing civilian service are adequately fed” ( Section 28 (1) ZDG ) without however, to define more precisely what is meant by appropriate .
Because of this, many community service institutions decided to pay their community service workers a meal allowance of around 6 euros / day, which led to protests and complaints from community service workers. In the opinion of the civil servants, adequate catering cannot be guaranteed at 6 euros / day, which is why an examination by the Constitutional Court (VfGH) was sought. In October 2005 the VfGH came to the judgment that meals of 6 euros / day were to be regarded as insufficient and set a reference value for the appropriateness of meals of 11.26 euros to 13.60 euros / day. This corresponds to the reimbursement of expenses for catering for soldiers regulated in the 2001 Army Fees Act .
Since it became known, there has been disagreement about the implementation of the VfGH ruling for some time, as neither the Ministry of the Interior , which was responsible for civil servants at the time, nor the respective civil service institutions were willing to pay for the additional costs that now arise retrospectively and future additional costs.
In the meantime, the most important institutions have agreed with the Interior Minister on the following procedure: By ordinance of the Interior Minister responsible at the time (catering ordinance ), there is a change to natural catering . If a facility does not provide natural catering, a meal allowance must be paid instead. In principle, this meal allowance has to be 16 euros / day, but the ordinance allows reductions of up to 35%. The reasons given for these reductions are a constant place of work (15%), existing cooking facilities (10%) and light physical activity (up to 10%). Since almost every facility makes deductions, the meal allowances paid by the facilities are between 8.84 euros / day and 10.20 euros / day.
Up until September 29, 2006, former community service providers between 2001 and 2006 could submit additional claims to the legal entities of the community service facilities for underpaid meals. The legal entity should agree on an appropriate amount with the person doing community service within 3 months. The catering ordinance was used to calculate the additional payment (see above).
The legal entities received a reimbursement of up to 4.20 euros per day to be paid later from the Ministry of the Interior, provided it was not a local authority or a legal entity financed by such a body. If no agreement could be reached within the period, an application could be made to the civil service agency within four weeks, with any other limitation period , which determined the amount of the additional amount to be paid.
On the part of (former) community service providers, the discrepancy between the additional payment offered and the amount mentioned in the judgment of the VfGH is criticized. The VfGH ruling speaks of small discounts with the same location. Many civil servants therefore do not consider 35% discounts to be small. In the case of civil servants working in the rescue service, the use of the discount for the same place of duty is particularly criticized, but it is used by all rescue organizations.
Sick leave
Sick days that are excused by submitting a certificate of incapacity for work do not have to be paid later. There is no maximum number of sick days that a person doing community service can have while doing their community service. However, those doing community service who are incapable of working for more than 18 days for health reasons are deemed to have been prematurely released from community service ex lege. Upon application, the civil service agency must determine the time of discharge ( Section 19a ZDG ). This regulation does not apply if the sick leave is due to an accident at work or an occupational disease during community service. The remaining time of his civil service must serve the civil service after the establishment of his ability to work with another institution, to which he is assigned separately by decision. In the event of illness, the civil servant is obliged to undergo an examination by a medical officer of the institution where he is performing the civil service, if this requires this.
Gun ban
Submitting a valid civil service declaration is associated with a ban on the possession of firearms that require a license and on carrying firearms for a period of 15 years ( Section 5 ( 5) S3 ZDG ), which can accordingly also be a disadvantage when exercising some professions. Admission to the police force was also not possible. Due to the ZDG amendment 2010 based on a government proposal by Maria Fekter , it is now possible for people who are obliged to do civil service after completing their regular civil service to be exempted from the gun ban under certain circumstances (especially hunting and sport shooters) or to subsequently revoke the civil service declaration in order to pursue a career to strive for at the police or the judiciary. The latter, however, requires the declaration that the reasons of conscience have ceased to exist.
literature
- Florian Burger: The Austrian civil service law. Civil Service Act 1986 and ordinances. 2001. ISBN 978-3831105625 .
Web links
- Erasmus +
- Voluntary social year
- Voluntary environmental year
- Austrian service abroad
- Civil Service Reform Commission. Archived from the original on July 19, 2010 ; Retrieved April 19, 2013 .
- Civil service agency
Individual evidence
- ↑ Interest in community service is declining. In: oesterreich.orf.at. February 8, 2019, accessed August 3, 2019 .
- ↑ https://www.bmlrt.gv.at/zivildienst.html
- ↑ https://www.bmlrt.gv.at/zivildienst-neu/zivildienst.html
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/Austria/comments/7s7o72/zivildienst_bei_der_pr%C3%A4sidialabteilung_der/
- ↑ https://www.landwirt.com/Forum/261844/Zivildienst---landwirtschaftlicher-Betriebshelfer-in-Oesterreich.html
- ↑ http://www.maschinenring.at/zivildienst-maschinenring
- ↑ https://www.addendum.org/coronavirus/zivildienst-verlaengerung/
- ↑ https://www.bmlrt.gv.at/service/presse/zivildienst/2020/zivildienst-gipfel.html
- ↑ Vienna has the highest number of unfit and civil servants. In: DiePresse.com. February 23, 2019, accessed August 10, 2019 .
- ↑ https://orf.at/stories/3157018/
- ↑ https://wien.orf.at/stories/3035822/
- ↑ https://kurier.at/politik/inland/heer-teiltauglichkeit-soll-anfang-2021-eingefuehrt-haben/400757952
- ↑ https://noe.orf.at/stories/3035259/
- ↑ https://www.addendum.org/zivildienst/teiltauglichkeit-oesterreich/
- ↑ https://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/politik/oesterreich/2018898-Wehrpflicht-Aus-untauglich-soll-teiltauglich-haben.html
- ↑ https://kurier.at/chronik/oesterreich/wehrpflicht-wien-hat-meiste-untaugliche-und-zivildiener/400416065
- ↑ https://wien.orf.at/stories/3035822/
- ↑ https://kurier.at/politik/inland/heer-teiltauglichkeit-soll-anfang-2021-eingefuehrt-haben/400757952
- ↑ https://noe.orf.at/stories/3035259/
- ↑ Interest in community service is declining. In: oesterreich.orf.at. February 8, 2019, accessed August 3, 2019 .
- ↑ https://orf.at/stories/3157018/
- ↑ Access to former civil servants and militia. In: orf.at. March 15, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 .
- ↑ https://www.krone.at/2124441
- ↑ Hellin Jankowski: What turquoise-green plans for civil servants, militia and basic military servants. In: diepresse.com. March 15, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Dominik Schreiber, Kid Möchel: Austria makes mobile: Who must now "move in". In: kurier.at. March 15, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 .
- ↑ Civil servants, basic military servants should serve longer. In: orf.at. March 15, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 .
- ↑ https://orf.at/stories/3162867/
- ↑ Virus: Austria uses 3500 extraordinary community service providers. In: focus.de. April 1, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 .
- ↑ https://kurier.at/politik/inland/3500-ausserordsame-zivildiener-tret-ihren-dienst-an/400798529
- ↑ https://orf.at/stories/3171800/
- ↑ https://kurier.at/politik/inland/coronakrise-ausserordentlicher-zivildienst-endet-am-31-juli/400986374
- ↑ http://www.jugendinaktion.at/images/doku/infoblatt_efdalszivildienstätze_final.pdf
- ↑ http://www.jugendumwelt.at/de/programme/freiwilliges-umweltjahr/zivildienstätze
- ^ Volkshilfe Wien: Voluntary social year at Volkshilfe Wien ( Memento from November 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (last accessed on November 8, 2016)
- ↑ Social career orientation Vorarlberg gemn. GesmbH: Information sheet for people obliged to do community service - Voluntary social year as an alternative (last accessed on November 8, 2016)
- ↑ https://www.samariterbund.net/jugend/freiwilliges-sozialjahr/
- ↑ Civil servant of the year - letter from the Federal Minister. (PDF) Accessed August 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Civil Servant of the Year. In: www.bmi.gv.at. Retrieved August 21, 2016 .
- ↑ https://www.bmi.gv.at/news.aspx?id=346C4F336F67434278346B3D
- ↑ Civil service: Free way to the police for ex- "civilians". Oberösterreichische Nachrichten , August 24, 2010, accessed on April 19, 2013 .
- ^ Amendment to the law: Civil servants can become police officers. Austria , April 16, 2010, accessed April 19, 2013 .
