Federal Act amending the Employment of Foreigners Act, 2 April 1988
Annual Review of Population Law 16: 180
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0364-3417 PMID: 12344241 Document Number: 379776
Austria's Federal Act amending the Employment of Foreigners Act, 1988, is designed to make it easier for certain categories of foreigners to obtain authorization to work in Austria and to stiffen penalties for employers who employ foreigners illegally. It amends the Employment of Foreigners Act to provide the following: a) foreign youths can obtain a certificate of exemption (BS), if one of their parents has legally resided in Austria for at least 5 years, one parent who lived in austria has died, or one parent is an Austrian citizen; if the youths have lived for more than half their life in Austria or have completed at least half of Austria's mandatory education requirement; and if they are under the age of 20 and have not been absent from Austria for more than 3 months of any calendar year spent living in Austria; b) foreign youth under the age of 20 failing to meet these requirements may still obtain a work permit (BB), if no extraordinary conditions exist in the local marketplace, and if at the date of passage of this Act they have lived legally in Austria for at least 5 years, or one parent who lived in Austria died, or one parent is an Austrian citizen; c) with respect to other foreigners, the time allowed to be spent away from work for various reasons that will not lead to a lapse of the 8-year continuous work requirement for obtaining a BS is extended, and the categories of valid reasons for absence are increased. Foreigners who work without a B and leave their place of employment are to be treated legally as if they had a B, if the lack of a B is the fault of the employer. Monetary penalties for employers who employ foreigners illegally are increased, particularly with respect to multiple offenses and repeat offenders.