460 short-term labor violations found – economy –

On April 10, Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP) announced suspicious controls by the financial police on suspected short-term companies. There have been 460 violations since April 21. 31 people were reported for short-term job abuse.

In some cases, terminated employees were found on the job, while an unregistered employee worked “on a voluntary basis.” Some violations also affected the wage dumping law. The results of the financial police are sent directly to the employment service (AMS). Companies face massive penalties. The punitive framework for tax evasion, depending on the form, can be a substantial fine of up to double the amount evaded and up to four years in prison. Abuse of grants can result in prison for up to five years, and there are also high penalties for falsifying documents and fraud. Controls do not take place without prior suspicion and risk analysis.

Around 350 financial police officers across the country controlled a total of 5,119 people at 1,946 companies in 1,205 locations, Blümel said Sunday in a broadcast. The 460 violations were registered under the Law on Employment of Foreigners, the General Law on Social Security, the Law on Unemployment Insurance, the Law on Control of Wages and Social Dumping and the Law on Hours of Work.

Due to suspected abuse of the short-term work scheme, complaints were filed against 31 people and forwarded to the Social Service Fraud Task Force at the Federal Criminal Police Office. In addition, complaints of tax evasion were filed against nine of the shortly verified individuals.

“In the current crisis, most companies are working to secure jobs and businesses,” Blümel said. “We help these companies with our measures. To protect all honest entrepreneurs and honest working people, we will continue to act decisively against any fraudulent social benefits in the future.” The audacity that financial police officers often face during checks confirms the course against subsidy fraud.

For example, when inspecting a construction site in Waldviertel, three employees of an Austrian company who registered short-term jobs were found doing bricklaying. In addition, two Slovenian companies acted as subcontractors for the Austrian construction company at this site: one had six Bosnians and the other a Serb who worked on the site. For both Slovenian companies, there were no reports or documents in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Control of Wages and Social Dumping. Therefore, violations of the Social Dumping and Wage Control Law and the Law on Employment of Foreigners were found. Short-term job surveys are ongoing.

At a metal construction company in Upper Austria, an unregistered employee was a “volunteer”. At a major construction site in Vienna, the financial police encountered 14 undeclared employees. These employees were registered before the crisis, but have continued to work in black since the crisis.

€ 10 billion is available as short-term job support under Corona aid packages.