Austria
(February 2017) The vida and GPA-djp service unions have negotiated a new agreement covering 5000 workers employed by Diakonie Austria, the church-based care provider. The pay increase of 1.9% is ahead of the 0.9% average inflation rate recorded in 2016. In addition there are improvements to and protection of the rights of workers taking parental leave which the unions say will particularly benefit the significant number of part-time women workers with childcare needs.
The European Commission has produced a short overview of paternity and parental leave provisions across EU countries revealing that, for example, paternity leave is available in nearly all member states but the length and level of compensation vary considerably. The draft directive on work-life balance proposes two weeks' paternity leave paid at the level of sick pay. While 17 member states already have the two-week minimum only 13 offer it on the basis of at least 66% of previous earnings.
A new collective agreement covering 9000 maternity nurses has been agreed by the FNV and NU'91 unions with a 5.75% pay rise over two years along with 10% increases for those in their first and second years in order to make the sector more attractive to young workers. Pay will be increased in four stages: 1% (backdated to April 2018); 1.5% (October 2018); 1.5% (January 2019) and 1.75% (May 2019). There will also be an end to 24-hour on-call shifts and other measures are foreseen to reduce workloads and improve work-life balance. A committee will be set up to monitor compliance with the
