Change of regulations regarding parental leave, care leave and other family-related rights

The Austrian government increased parental rights and introduced new regulations to improve the compatibility of work and family life, based on the European Union's Work-Life Balance Directive. Most changes came into force on 1 November 2023 and will require companies to adapt their HR processes.

We have summarized the highlights of those new regulations below.

1. Splitting parental leave: Parental leave until the age of 24 months is only possible if the childcare is shared

Employees are only entitled to take parental leave until the child is 24 months old if each parent takes at least two months of parental leave. If only one parent takes parental leave, this is only possible until the child is 22 months old. This regulation applies to children who are born, adopted or taken into care as of 1 November 2023. The new regulations intend to encourage parents to share the childcare and motivate, in particular, fathers to take care of their children. Although this new regulation shortens the period of parental leave for one person, it is intended to reduce the pressure on working mothers.

Single parents and parents where only one parent is entitled to parental leave (e.g., in the case of a self-employed parent) are excluded from this new regulation. They may take the full 24 months of parental leave.

2. Improved rights for parents

• Father's month is now more attractive: The family-time bonus will be doubled for father's month. This is effective retroactively and applies to children born after 31 July 2023.
• Parental part-time work: Parental part-time work, which was announced on 1 November 2023, can be enforced until the child is 8 years old. The duration of parental part-time work must be calculated in each individual case. This is because the period of prohibition of employment and the period of parental leave must be deducted from this maximum duration. At the same time, the periods between the child's seventh year of age and later entry into school must be added. This complex calculation system unnecessarily complicates calculating the legally possible part-time period.
• Duty to provide reasons: Companies are obliged to provide reasons if employees' claims are rejected or if employees are terminated in connection with parenthood and care issues. For example:
  • If the company rejects the employee's offer of agreed parental part-time work, the company has to justify the rejection in writing automatically.
  • If the employer terminates the employee, they are required to provide written justification within five calendar days upon the employee's request. Employees can request this justification if they believe that the termination is related to the actual or postponed parental leave, parental part-time work or care leave.

The law does not regulate how detailed the justification has to be.

• Extension of protection against termination on the grounds of an "illegal" motive: Employees can now challenge a termination in court on the grounds of asserting parental rights or carers' rights due to an "illegal" motive. Previously, this option was reserved for employees who were employed in companies requiring a works council (at least five employees). Now, this is also possible for employees in companies that do not require a works council.
• Extension of the prohibition of discrimination: The Equal Treatment Act ("Gleichbehandlungsgesetz") now specifically includes a prohibition of discrimination in the case of parental leave, care leave and other leaves of absence for family reasons. This means that the Austrian government recognizes "parenthood" as a characteristic worthy of protection.
• Care and support: Up to now, employees have only been able to claim paid care leave to care for close relatives in a shared household. In the future, a shared household will no longer be a requirement. Furthermore, it will also be possible to claim care leave for people who live in the same household, regardless of whether a family relationship exists.
• Expiry suspension: The current limitation and forfeiture periods provided by Austrian laws, collective bargaining agreements and individual agreements are suspended until two weeks after the end of the parental leave, care leave, leave to care for a terminally ill person or leave to care for seriously ill children, and absence from work due to illness or an accident of a close relative.

Conclusion

Parental rights and carers' rights have been strengthened by this amendment. From a practical point of view, the changes regarding parental leave and the introduction of a separate discrimination clause in favor of parenthood are the most significant. From companies' point of view, however, the amendments lead to unnecessary complexity regarding parental part-time work and higher administrative costs, and legal uncertainty regarding the obligation to provide justification in the case of a rejection of claims or terminations.