Opening A Business In Austria

• Published date: 15 June 2023
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Employment and HR, Compliance, Corporate and Company Law, Contract of Employment, Employee Benefits & Compensation
• Law Firm: L&E Global
• Author: KWR Karasek Wietrzyk Rechtsanw'lte and Anna Mertinz (KWR Karasek Wietrzyk Rechtsanw'lte)

1. INTRODUCTION

Austria has a long tradition of employee's rights. Ever since, employee associations have been strongly committed to the interests of employees and most of the legal rules aim to protect employees. For example, unions and the Chamber of Labour provide legal advice to employees in disputes towards their employer.

Claims are enforced rather quickly and frequently in Austria. There are specific courts for several specific matters, e.g. commercial courts and labour and social courts. Austria labour courts tend to be employee-friendly; however, judges are becoming more and more business-oriented and start to understand the needs and challenges employers are facing.

Austrian employment comprises many different legal sources, especially legislation and collective bargaining agreements ("CBA"). In particular, the search for and application of the correct CBA, the restrictions on working hours and working time models as well as the vast rights of works councils pose challenges for companies that open a shop in Austria.

The checklist below will guide you through some of the key legal requirements for opening up a shop in Austria.

KWR Karasek Wietrzyk Rechtsanw'lte GmbH is one of the leading law firms in Austria and has been advising clients in all legal areas of business law for more than 17 years. The well-coordinated teams have extensive expertise in their field and always create tailor-made solutions for their clients.

KWR as a well-known and renowned full-service law firm has consulting focuses on employment law, corporate law, trade law and commercial law for both national and international clients across a wide variety of sectors. Our advice covers the entire spectrum of employment law and commercial law issues. The teams within KWR can assist you as a one-stop-shop service provider when you want to open up a shop in Austria. KWR's areas of expertise comprise Employment, Corporate M/A, Data Protection, Dispute Resolution, Regulatory, IP/IT, Insolvency, Tax and Competition.

We at KWR understand that human resources are the most important assets of a successful company and therefore it is essential to protect HR from problems by appropriate structures and reliable relationships.

2. LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW REQUIREMENTS

Austrian employment law is not embedded into or regulated by one single labour law code. The sources of Austrian employment law are to be found in several codes/acts/federal law, the respective applicable collective bargaining agreements, works council agreements on a company level, individual employment contracts and instructions.

Austrian employment law consists of various legal acts such as the General Civil Code (ABGB), the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG), the White Collar Workers Act (AngG), the Act on Adjustment of Labour Law (AVRAG), Employment of Foreign Nationals Act (AuslBG), Disability Employment Act (BeinstG), Vacation Act (UrlG) and many others.

In addition, the provisions of the applicable CBA and works council agreements are important sources of rules. This variety of provisions and requirements represent a hurdle for many companies wishing to employ staff in Austria at...