Stoisits: School authorities do not recognize previous periods of employment

School Authorities do not recognize previous periods of employment of a school teacher despite his significant experience in the private industry 

ORF-Series "Bürgeranwalt" (“Advocate for People”) – Broadcast of December 27th, 2008

The complainant is teaching the subjects “Economics and Law” at the Technical College (HTL) St. Pölten. He has been trying unsuccessfully to have his previous periods of employment in private industry taken into account in calculating his effective date for promotion. The complainant has approximately 18 years of experience in private industry (1981 – 1999). To date only four years have been taken into account.

Ombudsperson Mag. Terezija STOISITS commented during the ORF broadcast “Bürgeranwalt”, that the effective date for promotion was the “anniversary of service” for every Federal Government employee. The “biannual jumps” are calculated from this date, which grant the respective Federal Government employee a higher salary every two years. The earlier the effective date for promotion is prior to the commencement date of service, the higher the starting salary and consequently, the earlier the higher salary level will be attained. Taking into account the years of practical experience of the complainant in private industry would move the effective date for promotion back to an earlier date and result in a corresponding salary increase.

The representative of the Federal Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture endeavoured to explain the technical-legal obstacles which prevent this from happening. Ombudsperson Stoisits however, showed ways in which more years could indeed be taken into account. In particular, she emphasized the importance of recruiting committed and experienced teachers from the private sector to improve the quality of teaching and make classes more true to life.

It was agreed eventually that the arguments of the Office of the Ombudsperson and the complainant should be reconsidered at the relevant Ministry. The complainant was requested by the representative of the Ministry to furnish a new statement of his years of practical experience and state in greater detail the reasons for their significance to his teaching. This was a positive signal for the complainant.

Entries in the Register of Contaminated Sites Cancelled

On 10.5.2008 Ombudsperson Terezija Stoisits reported on a case involving a married couple in Perchtholdsdorf near Vienna, whose property was entered in the Register of Contaminated Sites pursuant to the Remedial Engineering of Contaminated Sites Act. The investigations by the Authority if and to what extent the property was contaminated were drawn out for years. The persons affected were on the one hand concerned about the depreciation in the value of their property by reason of the entry, but also wanted to know for certain whether their property was contaminated with dangerous substances.

Initially it could be clarified that the property was not part of the former military installation, but merely a hutment. Presumably the burning down of the huts left polycyclic aromatic carbon hydroxides (PAC) in the soil. After lengthy investigations by the Authority it could now be established that a PAC contamination was in fact present, but it was insufficient for an entry into the Register of Contaminated Sites. The entry in the Register was cancelled much to the obvious relief of the persons affected. Nevertheless, the soil in the garden should be decontaminated and the couple is hoping for more active support from the authorities. Ombudsperson Stoisits thus promised to support the persons affected in obtaining detailed information about the procedure for the removal of the contaminated soil.