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Dr. Philipp Maier

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Philipp Maier joined Baker McKenzie Rechtsanwälte LLP & Co KG in 2009 as associate of the employment law practice group. Prior to that Philipp worked for several years in the employment law department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and in the litigation department of Wolf Theiss Rechtsanwälte. He also completed an internship at Aichelin Heat Treatment Systems (Detroit, USA).

On 1 February 2023, the Austrian National Council passed the so-called Whistleblower Protection Act (HinweisgeberInnenschutzgesetz). This law regulates a set of obligations for companies in relation to whistleblowing, with the setup of an internal “whistle-blowing system” a priority. This new law will come into force shortly — following a formal confirmation by the Federal Council of Austria, which is still pending. The Austrian legislator is finally implementing the requirements of the EU Whistleblower Directive, although with a delay of more than a year.

Does your company not want to default on the implementation of the EU Whistleblowing Directive? Then do not wait any longer to start planning your organization’s whistleblowing regime. We have prepared a multijurisdictional analysis matrix covering five key areas with respect to whistleblowing laws in the form of a questionnaire. The questionnaire covers questions about the directive’s scope and implementation requirements for internal procedures, protection of whistleblowers and data privacy issues.

Against the background of the EU Posting Workers Directive and the ECJ case law, the Wage and Social Dumping Prevention Act (“Lohn- und Sozialdumping-Bekämpfungsgesetz”, “LSD-BG”) has been amended effective as of 1 September 2021. In summary, the scope of the Wage and Social Dumping Prevention Act was limited and the provisions regarding administrative penalties were mitigated. However, provisions for long-term postings are now stricter.

Reasons for a clear and definitive YES to COVID-19 vaccinations

Mandatory vaccination is not to be expected. Nevertheless, employers and employees can greatly benefit from COVID-19 vaccinations. This is true from a health, economic and legal perspective. Companies which recognize these benefits (early on) will have a significant competitive advantage.