Vaccination refusers no longer receive unemployment benefits in Austria
According to a report by the newspaper “Standart”, unemployment benefits will be blocked in the future if you cannot apply for a job because this requires a corona vaccination.
In this case, the unemployed cannot get any more money for up to six weeks.
However, the Public Employment Service in Austria does not specifically ask jobseekers about their vaccination status.
To get more people in Austria to get vaccinated against the corona virus, the government is taking tough measures. According to the daily newspaper “Default” Labor Minister Martin Köcher (ÖVP) has ordered the Public Employment Service (AMS), which obliges the German Employment Agency to block unemployment benefits for job seekers and requires vaccination. The authors of the report refer to a letter from the end of August that Quiver is said to have sent to the AMS.
In Austria, 59.6 percent of the population are currently fully vaccinated against the corona virus. Because the campaign is stagnating, more and more companies are now demanding new employees to be vaccinated. According to the report, the state of Lower Austria has introduced a mandatory vaccination for new admissions in the entire state service. But companies from sectors such as trade and industry would now also require a vaccination. Although there is no compulsory vaccination in Austria, employers are free to request a vaccination, writes the “Standart” – even outside of health professions.
Unvaccinated people who reject an application or job because it requires a vaccination can now receive unemployment benefits for up to six weeks. However, the AMS itself does not ask about the vaccination status. Unvaccinated people are only banned IF companies report that an unemployed person does not accept a job because the vaccination is missing. Or when people do not even apply for jobs that require a vaccination. The regulation does not apply if someone cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.
The Austrian Ministry of Labor has emphasized neither forcing someone to have a vaccination nor having created a legal situation. However, unvaccinated people cannot refuse a job because they do not want to be immunized.
tel