New telework rules: Flexible working begins in Carinthia!

New telework rules: Flexible working begins in Carinthia!

The new regulation on teleworking, which will come into force from 2025, will bring profound changes for employees and employers in Austria. As a result of the amendment to the law, the previous home office regulations now fall under the term “telework”. This means that employees are no longer exclusively confined to their homes when working outside of the company, but can now also use their main or secondary residences as well as co-working spaces, such as meinkreis.at reported. Maximilian Turrini, head of AK labor law, emphasizes that it is necessary to agree on the places of work in writing, as the relocation of the place of work represents a fundamental change. In addition, accident insurance coverage remains valid during work and on the way to work, but only for teleworking in the narrower sense.

Regulations for teleworking abroad

Another important innovation of the reform concerns the possibility of regular work abroad. However, short work phases, for example in a hotel room, are not covered by the telework regulation. The situation is different with “workation”, i.e. regular work at the holiday destination, which also requires a separate agreement. AK President Goach also criticizes the restriction of insurance coverage to the commute to work in a broader sense: “This restriction is incomprehensible,” he said. Nevertheless, the reform creates clear framework conditions for an increasingly flexible working world.

In addition, the teleworking allowance, which amounts to up to three euros per day for a maximum of 100 days per year, remains in effect. Employers can pay amounts above this amount, but these are taxable. Diana Jusic, an expert in tax law, points out that the teleworking days must be noted in the pay slip in order to be able to claim the flat rate. In the digital transformation, it is crucial to understand and use these new framework conditions in order to successfully master the challenges of the changing labor market, as can be seen from the detailed analyzes by the Bundestag in an information sheet available at bundestag.de can be found.