A former police dog handler with the Vienna Police Department was temporarily appointed acting provincial training officer for the police dog unit in 2022. After fifteen years with the police, he eventually moved into the private sector and set up his own business. For his future career progression, he now requires a comprehensive reference, which the Vienna Police have, however, refused to provide. The reasons for the decision were that the post he held was not ‘systemised’ and did not officially exist.
A complaint lodged with the Austrian Ombudsman Board ultimately highlighted just how difficult the struggle to obtain confirmation of one’s professional activities can be as a result. Ombudsperson Christoph Luisser brought this ordeal over the recognition of his service to light on 24 October 2026 on the television programme Bürgeranwalt ("Advocate for the People") on the public television channel ORF.
The Ombudsperson considers this to be reprehensible behaviour towards an award-winning civil servant who was awarded the title of ‘Police Officer of the Year 2015’ for his training work at the European border protection agency FRONTEX.
Despite a written appointment, no reference was provided
Although the person concerned had fully performed his managerial role for thirteen months, his former employer refused to include any of his professional duties in a service certificate. It was only following the investigative proceedings of the Austrian Ombudsman Board that his former public service authority half-heartedly issued a service certificate to the former police officer. The shortcoming: it covers only a small proportion of all the duties listed in the Ministry of the Interior’s regulations on police service dogs and directly related to the fulfilment of his former managerial role.
For Ombudsperson Christoph Luisser, this is an inadequate reference for the achievements of a highly qualified expert and former dedicated senior staff member. Luisser is outraged by these courses of action: “The Ministry of the Interior should also be aware of the Austrian legal situation. Following a written assignment and the verifiable performance of official duties, an employee is entitled to a properly issued service certificate. I demand the issuance of a comprehensive confirmation that reflects all achievements, as required by law.”
