Festival in the SCHLABASSEL: Court gives organizers right according to punishment!

Festival in the SCHLABASSEL: Court gives organizers right according to punishment!

Sonn­eg­ger See, Sit­ters­dorf, Österreich - The Acoustic-lakeside Festival , which has been taking place on Sonnegger See in Sittersdorf for a decade, was recently over. The association was confronted by the financial police with the illegal employment of 192 helpers, which led to a sensitive punishment of around 140,000 euros. The accusation: the employees were not properly registered, although the association emphasized that it had revealed all the details and asked in advance with social security and a tax consultant. Lawyer Rudolf Vouk reported on this proactive clarification by the association, which was based on the principle of voluntariness.

In the subsequent court proceedings, the state administrative court found that the helpers worked without a fee for idealistic motifs and thus gave the association right. This judgment shows that even smaller events that are borne by volunteers should not be punished lightly, provided that all regulations are observed. This is particularly relevant because the topic of traffic safety is often discussed, as the “Rock am Ring” case shows in 2016, in which numerous visitors were injured due to a storm. A lightning strike led to a cardiac arrest from a festival visitor who then sued the organizer for failure to secure traffic, such as sifa-sibe.de reported.

The Acoustic Lakeside Festival has the opportunity to continue to exist, since the court recognized the help of the helper free of charge. This judgment could be groundbreaking for similar events in the future that move in the area of tension between volunteering and legal requirements.