New legal regulations for employees' notice periods

According to a draft assessment by the Ministry of Social Affairs, the statutory notice periods and dates for workers will be revised with effect from January 1, 2026: 

The legal authorization of collective bargaining partners to regulate notice periods differently for predominantly seasonal industries (“seasonal privilege” pursuant to Section 1159 (2) last sentence of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB)) is to be removed from the law on January 1, 2026.

The reason for this is the massive interpretation problems that this seasonal clause has caused (think, for example, of the drama in the hotel and hospitality industry, where for years there was complete uncertainty about the valid notice period).

The planned revision of Section 1159 (2) of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) provides for a six-week notice period for employer terminations from 2026 onwards, unchanged from the current situation, with an increase of up to five months depending on the length of service (the termination date remains the end of the quarter in accordance with Section 1159 (3) ABGB, whereby the 15th and/or last day of the calendar month may also be agreed).

What is new is that the collective bargaining partners are no longer authorized to make different arrangements for seasonal industries.

However, a somewhat rather lengthy exemption clause is intended to ensure that those special provisions in collective agreements that were previously explicitly based on the seasonal clause can remain in place:

Deviating collective agreement termination provisions remain valid if they were concluded and announced between January 1, 2018, and February 1, 2025, with reference to Section 1159 (2) ABGB (in the previous version) (Section 1159 (3a) ABGB). This means that the parties to the collective agreement must actively conclude a new agreement (plus announcement) within the specified time frame.

Conversely, this means two things: On the one hand, simply maintaining a collective agreement termination provision that already existed before January 1, 2018, is not sufficient. On the other hand, collective agreements that were or will be concluded after February 1, 2025, may also no longer deviate from the termination provisions of Section 1159 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB) as of January 1, 2026 (not even through retroactive entry into force).

Important practical guidance: The explanatory notes to the draft law list the collective agreements that meet the requirements for the continued application of the deviating termination provisions:

• Collective agreement for workers in the agricultural services sector,
• Collective agreement for the construction industry and building trade,
• Collective agreement for the ancillary building trade,
• Collective agreement for security guards in the security industry,
• Collective agreement for floor layers,
• Collective agreement for well diggers, foundation engineers, and deep drilling contractors,
• Collective agreement for roofers,
• Collective agreement for monument, facade, and building cleaning, other cleaning trades, and building maintenance,
• Collective agreement for iron and metalworking trades for the professions of tinsmiths (tinsmiths and coppersmiths),
• Collective agreement for commercial forestry companies,
• Collective agreement for glaziers,
• Collective agreement for commercial cemetery gardening companies,
• Collective agreement for commercial gardening and landscaping companies,
• Collective agreement for stove fitters, tilers, and ceramists,
• Collective agreement for master carpenters,
• Collective agreement for painters, varnishers, and sign makers,
• Collective agreement for pavers,
• Supplementary collective agreement for chimney sweeps,
• Collective agreement for pest control,
• Collective agreement for stonemasons,
• Collective agreement for upholsterers,
• Collective agreement for wood and plastics processing in the version applicable to carpenters and wood designers,
• Collective agreement for private bus companies,
• Collective agreement for inland waterway transport,
• Collective agreement for cable cars,
• Collective agreement for freight transport,
• Collective agreement for small transport companies,
• Collective agreement for the stone and ceramics industry,
• Collective agreement for glass processing and flat glass grinding.

Link to the draft law concerning the abolition of the seasonal clause for worker dismissals:

https://www.parlament.gv.at/gegenstand/XXVIII/ME/33