Austria’s Work Rules Discourage Extra Hours

Austria’s Work Rules Discourage Extra Hours

Barbara Gindl

 

Austria’s labour system discourages people from taking overtime and increasing their working hours, a new study has found.

The study, by the think-tank Agenda Austria, describes Austria as a “part-time republic” where labour and tax regulations ensure that putting in extra hours “simply doesn’t pay off.”

“In hardly any other country does the system penalise full-time work as much as in Austria,” reads the organisation’s press release.

According to the organisation’s calculations among 21 European countries, individuals who increase their working hours by 100% in Austria receive only 67.5% more after-tax pay (a 50% increase results in a 33.8% pay rise). Only the Netherlands, Spain, Luxembourg and Belgium have lower levels of pay-off.

At the top of the list is Hungary, where doubling your working hours means doubling your salary.

“In principle, every citizen should be free to choose how much they work. But it doesn’t help if overtime is penalised,” said Dénes Kucsera, an economist at Agenda Austria, in the press release. “The next government therefore urgently needs to significantly reduce labour taxes,” Kucsera summarised.

Last year, a survey by Statistics Austria found that every sixth person employed in Austria wants to work less.

Austria will hold parliamentary elections on September 29, which will determine the country’s next government and its policies. Read our guide to the elections here: Austria’s Main Political Parties Explained

 

The Agenda Austria calculations showing the correlation between increased working hours and pay

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