Internships: These working hours are prohibited - check your July payslip
The Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer) in Horn is sounding the alarm. The district office is currently seeing a surge in complaints regarding the first July payslips of interns from secondary schools. The issues involve long working hours, missing allowances, and unpaid overtime.
The case that most clearly illustrates the problem: An intern under the age of 16 was employed in the catering industry until midnight and had to work past 8 p.m. on several previous days.
"The law allows for working hours until 8 p.m. for those under 16, and until 11 p.m. for those over 16," explains Andreas Riedl, head of the AK district office in Horn. The teenager's working hours were therefore clearly outside the permitted limits.
THE RULES THAT MANY DO NOT KNOW
A mandatory internship is an employment relationship. This entails more than most people assume:
For those under 16, work is not permitted after 8 p.m.; for those over 16, not after 11 p.m.
For young people under 18, overtime is generally not permitted.
Because an internship is an employment relationship, there is an entitlement to leave.
Allowances and surcharges are due if the respective collective agreement provides for them.
WHAT YOU SHOULD DO NOW
Check your July payslip. Are the hours correct? Are the surcharges included? Was everything paid out?
Document your working hours yourself. Note the start, end, and breaks - every day. Without your own records, it will later be your word against theirs.
Contact the Chamber of Labour. Advice is free for AK members. Even if the internship has already ended, outstanding claims can still be asserted.
Riedl points out that complaints in the catering sector are increasing overall again. Those who are young or new to the Austrian labor market often do not know the limits - and that is exactly where the cases that end up at the AK arise.