Invalidity, Old-Age and Survivors' Benefits Convention, 1967 (No. 128) - Austria (Ratification: 1969)

Replies received to the issues raised in a direct request which do not give rise to further comments (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, which answers the points raised in its previous direct request and has no further matters to raise in this regard.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Article 13 of the Convention. Rehabilitation measures. The Government indicates in its report that access to disability pension is granted only if it is impossible to restore ability to work through rehabilitation measures, making rehabilitation compulsory. As a result of changes made to vocational protection in connection with disability pension, access to such pension was made more difficult in the case of skilled workers and was facilitated in the case of unskilled workers through the hardship provision, which will expire in 2015. The Committee asks the Government to supply the legal texts concerning the above amendments and to provide further information, including statistics, on concrete results achieved in practice, indicating, inter alia, the number of vocational rehabilitation measures before and after the reform, the number of rehabilitated disabled persons who found employment, the number of suspension of benefits due to the beneficiary not undergoing rehabilitation process as well as any measures envisaged following the expiry of the hardship provision in 2015.

Article 17(a) in conjunction with Article 26. Level of old age benefit. According to the calculations provided in the report, the replacement rate of the old-age pension served to the standard beneficiary (skilled manual male employee determined under Article 26(6)(c) of the Convention) after 30 years of insurance decreased from 46.2 per cent in 2002 to 43.12 per cent in 2011. The Government indicates that before the 2003 pension reform, each year of pension coverage was assigned a specific incremental rate of 2 per cent whereas following the reform the new rate is 1.78 per cent of the assessment base for each year of coverage. The assessment basis is now calculated using the average annual income for the reference period by means of revaluation coefficients whereas, until 2004, those coefficients had been specified by the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection largely in parallel to consumer price inflation. Also, the period of contribution for entitlement to the maximum replacement rate, i.e. 80 per cent of the pension assessment basis, is now obtained after 45 years as opposed to 40 years previously. These reforms aimed at stabilizing the development of spending in relation to pensions by restraining the rise of costs in the statutory pension system and through structural changes enabling workers to remain economically active longer while preserving social symmetry and enhancing fairness with regard to contributions. In view of the long-term trend towards the reduction of the replacement rate of old-age pensions in Austria, the Committee asks the Government to specify whether actuarial projections have been made to determine the future development of this trend, particularly with a view to ensuring that the minimum replacement rates prescribed by the Convention continue to be observed.

Article 29(1). Adjustment of benefits. The Committee notes the extensive information, including statistics, provided by the Government in reply to its previous comments. It notes, in particular, that during the reporting period, various discretionary decisions were taken regarding the adjustment of pensions due to the transition from net wage adjustment to an adjustment rule based on the development of consumer prices, taking into account the interests of the insured as well as poverty reduction. In the period 2011–12, the maximum pension benefiting from adjustment measures was raised substantially. The Committee asks the Government to continue supplying the statistical data on the evolution of the consumer price index (VPI) in comparison with the standard wage index (TLI), as well as the discretionary adjustment measures aimed at poverty reduction among persons in old age.

Comments made by the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK). Noting the comments made by the Austrian Federal Chamber of Labour appended to the Government’s report received 31 August 2012, the Committee asks the Government to supply information in respect of the issues raised therein in its next report.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Article 17(a) in conjunction with Article 26 of the Convention. According to the calculation given in the report, the old-age pension of the standard beneficiary after 30 years of insurance in 2002–03 exceeded 45 per cent but in 2004 and 2005 attained, respectively, only 43.3 per cent and 43.7 per cent of the reference wage of the skilled manual male employee determined under Article 26(6)(c) of the Convention. The Committee would like the Government to explain the reasons for the decrease in 2004–05 in the replacement level of the old-age pension. It also asks the Government to calculate the replacement rate for the years 2006 and 2007, indicating how this calculation is made for the standard beneficiary (man with wife of pension age) and whether, in addition to the pension, account could be taken of the compensatory allowance for a married couple.

Article 29, paragraph 1. (a) The report indicates that, since 2004, the pensions have been adjusted on the basis of inflation, which means that pensions are increased in line with increases in consumer prices. This inflation-based adjustment has replaced the previous system of net adjustment introduced in 2001, according to which average pensions were adjusted in line with the average income of the working population. However, due to a structural effect (tendency for low pensions to disappear, growth in higher pensions), the required harmonization of the average values led to adjustments that were frequently below the rate of inflation. The Committee recalls that Article 29(1) of the Convention provides for both methods of adjustment of pensions linking them to changes in the cost of living as well as to changes in the general level of earnings of the working population, without opposing one method to the other. In fact, they are treated as complementary: the first method, market-based, permits to maintain the purchasing power of pensions vis-à-vis the inflation and fluctuation of market prices, the second, solidarity-based, ensures that pensioners share in the increase of the general standard of living of the working population. The ability of the national pension system to maintain both principles of adjustment of pensions is an important indicator of the financial health of the system and its contribution to the sustainable social development and social cohesion in the country. Adjusting pensions to the cost of living alone, while safeguarding the standard of living of the pensioners against sliding into absolute poverty, would not prevent them from experiencing relative poverty as their pensions would progressively lag behind the growth of the average income of the working population. In this respect, the statistical data provided in the report shows that the standard wage index reflecting growth of the average income of the working population has increased by 15.2 per cent surpassing the cost of living index, which in the same period of 2000–06, grew by 12.2 per cent. This implies that in this period pensioners in Austria might have been better off had their pensions been adjusted in line with the standard wage index according to the old system of net adjustment. Taking into account that the system of net adjustment was introduced since 2001 and the system of inflation-based adjustment since 2004, the Committee would like the Government to include in its next report detailed statistics requested under Article 29 of the report form on the evolution of the cost of living index and the standard wage index for the whole period of 2001–07.

(b) The Committee also notes that, compared to the 12.2 per cent increase of the cost of living index, the average old-age pension under the ASVG in the period of 2001–06 grew by 10.1 per cent and the old-age pension of the skilled manual male worker after 15 years of contributions – by only 5.8 per cent, thus apparently lagging far behind the level of inflation in the country. For 2007, the report mentions payment of the difference between the consumer price index and the “price index for pensioner households” to all beneficiaries by means of a socially differentiated lump sum payment. The Government is asked to explain the situation in the period of 2001–06, the use of the price index for pensioner households, which apparently does not match the consumer price index, and the effect of the lump-sum payment on pensions of different amounts. The Committee expects the Government to show, on the basis of updated statistics for the period 2004–07, that the increase in the cost of living and consumer price index has been effectively compensated by the inflation-based adjustment system.

(c) The report mentions time limited special provisions for adjustment of higher pensions. In 2004 and 2005, all pensions that fell short of the average old-age pension in the country were adjusted on the basis of consumer price increases, all other pensions – by a fixed amount. Taking into account that the pension for a standard beneficiary with 30 years of contributions would normally be higher than the average old-age pension in the country, these measures would result in insufficient rate of adjustment of the pensions guaranteed by the Convention. In 2006 and 2007 adjustment to inflation was effected only for pensions up to the amount of half the maximum contribution basis, that is for pensions up to 1,875 euros; for higher pensions it was again replaced by the payment of a fixed amount. As the pension for a standard beneficiary with 30 years of contributions does not attain the amount of half the maximum contribution basis, it would have been fully adjusted to inflation during this period. The Committee would like the Government to include in its next report exact statistics on:

–           the level of inflation and adjustment of pensions in 2004–05, separately for pensions up to, and above, the amount of the average old-age pension in the country;

–           the level of inflation and adjustment of pensions in each year since 2006, separately for pensions up to, and above, the amount of half the maximum contribution basis; and on

–           the rates of adjustment applicable in each year since 2004, to the pension for a standard beneficiary with 30 years of contributions.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1994, published 81st ILC session (1994)

With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its report and the comments made by the Federal Chamber of Workers and Salaried Employees concerning Part III (Old-age benefit) Article 15, paragraph 3, of the Convention. It also notes the statistical information provided concerning the scope and level of benefits.

Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1989, published 76th ILC session (1989)

1. Part III (Old-age benefit), Article 15, paragraph 3, of the Convention. In reply to the Committee's earlier comments concerning the lowering of the age of retirement to under 65 years for persons who have been employed in occupations considered by the national legislation to be arduous or unhealthy (in accordance with the above-mentioned provision of the Convention), the Government indicates in its report that the question cannot at present be discussed in a general context in view of the financial situation of the pension scheme, the growing number of beneficiaries over the years and the various economic measures which must be taken to ensure that the scheme is maintained at its present level. The Government none the less recalls that all insured persons may have recourse to early retirement and that, particularly since January 1984, retirement pensions with very favourable terms have been granted to persons of over 55 years of age in the event of a reduced capacity for work. It adds that supplementary allowances of a level corresponding to the level of the pension for reduced capacity for work, are granted (under the Supplementary Benefits Act of 1973) to employees over a certain age who have lost their jobs in mining or in the iron and steel industry and to unemployed men over the age of 59 and women over the age of 54. These allowances are granted to workers meeting the prescribed qualifying period, until such time as they are replaced by retirement pension. In addition, workers engaged in night work or arduous occupations enjoy, following the adoption of the Federal Act of 2 July 1981 (BGB1 354), better working and health conditions and receive a supplementary pension at an age lower than the age of normal retirement (currently 57 years for men and 52 years for women). The supplementary pension is granted to persons who have completed a long period of insurance contributions, even if they have only been engaged in such work for a minimum number of years.

The Committee takes due note of this information. It also notes the comments made on this subject by the organisations representing the workers, which were enclosed with the report. It hopes that the Government will continue to make every effort to ensure more effective application of the above-mentioned Article of the Convention, which aims to establish a more favourable pension scheme for workers who have been engaged in occupations that are arduous or unhealthy, while observing the standards laid down by Articles 17 and 18 of this instrument.

2. The Committee also takes note of the information supplied by the Government concerning the measures taken or under consideration to maintain the financial equilibrium of the insurance scheme. It hopes that, when such measures are adopted, the Government will continue to take account of the effect they may have on the application of the Convention and that it will not fail to keep the International Labour Office informed of such developments.

3. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would provide statistical data in its future reports, on the persons protected and the rate of benefits, as required by the report form on this Convention under Articles 16, 17 and 18.