OGH on Limitation Periods under Collective Agreements

May 3, 2024 Benn-Ibler Rechtsanwälte

The Austrian Supreme Court (Oberster Gerichtshof, hereinafter OGH) has clarified that the limitation periods under collective agreements also apply to the statutory right to the transmission of work records under Section 26(8) of the Austrian Working Hours Act (Arbeitszeitgesetz, hereinafter AZG).

The plaintiff was employed as an installation and shower wall fitter and was subject to the collective agreement for workers in the iron and metal industry (KV). Working time records had been kept on a company iPad since 2019. The records were available to the employees until the end of their employment. Once a month, the records were printed out, signed, and returned to the employer.

Following the dismissal, the plaintiff demanded payment of the remaining overtime remuneration and the transmission of all his working time records for the years 2019 and 2020. The defendant employer objected to the forfeiture of the right to the transmission of working time records in accordance with Article XX of the collective agreement.

The court of first instance awarded the remainder of the remuneration and dismissed the claim for disclosure, on the grounds that the plaintiff had failed to submit his claim for disclosure of the requested working time records in writing within the time limit set out in the collective agreement. The court of appeal confirmed this decision.

The OGH had to decide whether the claim under Section 26(8) of the AZG could also be subject to the expiry of the collective agreement. 

Under Section 26(8) of the AZG, employees are entitled to receive their working time records free of charge once a month if they can prove that they have requested them. According to Article XX, paragraph 1 of the collective agreement, all mutual claims arising from the employment relationship must be asserted in writing within six months of becoming due or becoming known.

According to settled case law, collective-agreement preclusion periods are permissible for mandatory statutory claims arising from the employment relationship. Only if they contravene mandatory statutory provisions on limitation periods to the detriment of the employee can such collective agreement provisions be null and void.

There is no mandatory statutory provision on the time limit for asserting the claim under Section 26(8) of the AZG, so that the preclusive period of the collective agreement applies. The plaintiff’s claim was therefore correctly dismissed.

OGH 8 ObA 9/23s (22 March 2024)