Chamber of Labor helped:

Seasonal worker was shamelessly exploited

Unlawfully dismissed, cheated out of money: a waitress was badly cheated at a 3-star hotel in Vorarlberg

Ms. T. had signed a fixed-term employment contract as a waitress at the 3-star hotel. She was to work there from December 10, 2023 to March 31, 2024. Despite the short time limit, it was agreed that the employment relationship could be terminated subject to a notice period of 14 days.

Shortly before Ms. T's fixed-term employment contract would have expired anyway, the employer terminated the employment relationship on 10 March with around one week's notice. In the case of such short fixed-term contracts, however, case law only permits the agreement of a termination option if, according to the contract, termination is no longer permitted approximately one month before the end of the contract. However, Ms. T's contract did not contain such a clause. "Furthermore, according to the current legal situation and case law, the 14-day notice period is not permitted in the hospitality industry," explains Andreas Kickl, employment law expert at the Vorarlberg Chamber of Labor. In summary, this means that there was no valid termination option.

Several errors identified
Ms T. turned to the Chamber of Labor. Her work records, payslips and final accounts were checked. Several errors were discovered: The registration was one day late, the public holiday pay for 36 hours, the financial compensation for nine lost weekly rest periods, the overtime pay for 35.72 hours and the vacation compensation for 1.42 working days were missing, in addition to the claim for damages for the non-compliance with the fixed-term agreement.

The employee had only received a lump-sum cash payment of EUR 300 net from the employer. However, the total for all items amounted to more than 4600 euros gross. "A truly unbelievable case that is anything but commonplace," Kickl can only shake his head. Thanks to the Chamber of Labor, there was at least a happy ending for Ms. T. - she got her money. As a general rule: employment contracts, especially fixed-term contracts and early terminations proposed or communicated by the employer should always be checked, and the same applies to final accounts!