Stoisits: Unequal Pay for Teachers

An art history teacher from Linz turned to the Ombudsman Board after having been confronted with unequal payment at her workplace: she was working as much as her colleagues offering the same quality courses while receiving less pay. A number of complaints regarding this problem had already reached the Ombudsman Board. In many cases in Austria teachers provide the same work in the same subjects. However, on account of belonging to diverging remuneration groups they receive less pay. The source of this unequal treatment is located in the prerequisites for being categorized as remuneration group L1 which are not fulfilled by the affected persons.

The successful and popular teacher was able to present a subject relevant education which she had absolved while attending to her teaching profession. However, she was not able to complete the necessary additional relevant professional experience since she continued to teach on the job. Hence, she lacked the formal prerequisites for being upgraded to the L1 remuneration group. The negative consequences: Every month the affected teacher earned approximately 1000 Euros less than the other teachers with a similar length of service.

In her statements to the Federal Ministry for Education, Arts and Culture as well as to the Federal Chancellery the responsible Ombudswoman Terezija Stoisits repeatedly pointed out these hardships and issued a legislative suggestion. In consequence the Federal Chancellery drew up an according legal proposal which was admitted by the legislator.

In practice this means that teachers who have absolved an extra occupational course of studies and hence have no possibility of absolving the additional relevant professional experience now have the option of using their teaching profession as a prerequisite. Being upgraded to the remuneration group L1 - as in the case of the teacher from Linz - should no longer present to be a problem.