Letter claiming unpaid wages, overtime and special payments (Austria)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
A letter by which an employee in Austria claims unpaid amounts from the employment in writing: wage or salary, overtime with its premium, special payments (13th and 14th salary) and other claims, with a total, a deadline and a bank account. It meets the forfeiture deadlines of the collective agreement (Verfallsfristen), which are often far shorter than the three-year limitation period (§ 1486 Z 5 ABGB), and refers to interest under § 49a ASGG. In German, to print, sign and deliver with proof of receipt.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (department if any, street, postcode and town)
- City
- Date
- Employee's personnel number
- Wage or salary: period and gross amount (or “none”)
- Overtime: hours, period and gross amount including the premium (or “none”)
- Special payments (holiday and Christmas bonus): period and gross amount (or “none”)
- Other claims, e.g. allowances or pay in lieu of leave: kind, period and gross amount (or “none”)
- Total of the claims, gross, in euros
- Pay by
- IBAN
- Applicable collective agreement (or “none”)
- Enclosures (e.g. copies of your working-time records and payslips)
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- How long do I have in Austria to claim unpaid wages?
- Pay claims become time-barred after three years (§ 1486 Z 5 ABGB). They can lapse much earlier, though: many collective agreements set forfeiture deadlines (Verfallsfristen) that are far shorter and often require the claim to be made in writing. So read the forfeiture clause of your collective agreement and your contract, and make sure the letter reaches the employer in time — what counts is receipt, not posting.
- What interest can I claim in Austria on wages paid late?
- For claims arising from employment, § 49a ASGG provides interest of 9.2 percentage points above the base rate. The letter reserves this interest without calculating it. Whether and from when it is owed in a given case is decided, if there is a dispute, by the labour and social court (Arbeits- und Sozialgericht).
- What applies to overtime in Austria if the employer keeps no time records?
- Each overtime hour carries a premium of 50 % (§ 10 AZG); the collective agreement may provide more. If the employer, contrary to its duty, keeps no records and the working time therefore cannot be established, forfeiture deadlines are suspended (§ 26 Abs 8 AZG). So keep your own record of your hours and enclose it with the letter.
- Can I leave my job in Austria at once because wages are unpaid?
- If the employer improperly withholds pay, that is an important ground for leaving early (vorzeitiger Austritt, § 26 Z 2 AngG; for blue-collar workers § 82a lit d GewO 1859). An Austritt without a concrete final deadline set beforehand has, however, been held unjustified. So first set a final deadline with a specific date, and declare the Austritt only once it passes unused; there are separate letters for both. The Chamber of Labour advises its members beforehand.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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