Amendment planned

Soon divisibility and paternity leave for civilian service

Civilian service has been a substitute for military service in Austria for 50 years - now an amendment to the law is planned that will allow for divisibility in cases of hardship and a month of paternity leave.

It is to be made possible to divide the service into two parts at the request of the person doing civilian service if "there are economic or family interests that are particularly worthy of consideration", such as cases of hardship for entrepreneurs or strokes of fate in one's own family.

In the event of the birth of a child, the possibility of a papa month will be created. In addition, the completion of "vocational modules" will be possible for more civil servants in the future, as the requirement for neutrality in the labor market will no longer apply. This should make things easier for rescue organizations in particular.

Tougher conditions for "system changers"
According to the draft, which State Secretary Claudia Plakolm (ÖVP) submitted for review on Monday, "system changers" who argue that they are mentally ill will also be required to undergo a specialist medical examination. Every year, there are around 220 conscripts who do not start or complete their civilian service and back this up with a medical certificate confirming their state of mental health.

However, requests for information from the health insurance fund have shown that they were in fact in other employment or self-employed. In such cases, the civilian service authority should now be able to prescribe an examination by an expert.