AK balance sheet

Man on sick leave dismissed via WhatsApp

The Chamber of Labor took stock of the legal protection consultations(Bild: AK/Helge Bauer)

Unjustified dismissals, unpaid overtime or information on a wide range of issues relating to employment law, insolvency and social law: last year, the AK's legal protection experts provided a total of 125,550 consultations.

The Chamber of Labor presented its legal protection balance sheet on Thursday. In the past year, a total of 65.9 million euros were won for Carinthian employees. A total of 125,550 consultations were held. 12,000 of these were provided by the "Career, Family and Equality" department, where inquiries mainly revolved around the topics of maternity protection and parental leave as well as subsidies and family benefits. In the social area, there were over 1225 new representations in the previous year, relating to disability pensions, occupational disability pensions, equalization allowances, rehabilitation claims and care allowances.

The Chamber of Labor ensures fairness in the workplace and supports employees with free advice and representation in court

AK-Präsident Günther Goach

In 479 cases, advice in the area of employment law ended in a lawsuit in the previous year. In total, there were 2058 employment law cases that were settled positively. The top topics for advice remained unchanged. "As in the previous year, it's all about pay slips, incorrect classifications, termination of employment contracts and unpaid overtime. We can help our members by intervening and, if necessary, taking legal action," says Max Turrini, Head of Labor and Social Law at the Carinthian Chamber of Labor. 

Dismissal during sick leave
According to the AK experts, dismissals during sick leave remain a perennial issue. One worker was hit particularly hard: The man had been employed in a company for 32 years and had to take sick leave after an accident at work. After a few weeks, the man on sick leave received a WhatsApp from his company informing him that he was now being deregistered and would no longer be employed. In a conversation, it was also made clear to the employee once again that he was ill due to the accident and therefore not needed. The employee turned to the AK because the notice periods were not observed and the payment of severance pay was refused. Following an intervention, the experts were able to obtain a severance payment of 75,000 euros out of court.

Demand for a ban on dismissals
"Employees are not protected from losing their jobs during sick leave, which is why I am once again calling for a ban on dismissal during sick leave," said AK President Günther Goach.