Vienna labour court says staff shortage delays cases

Vienna’s Labour and Social Court has warned that it is operating at its limit, with an acute staff shortage delaying proceedings and affecting people who depend on swift decisions, ORF reported.

The court said its current workload was at 140 percent. The problem was particularly clear in cases involving care allowance, where delays create major uncertainty for people and their relatives when organising and financing care, according to a media statement.

Proceedings challenging dismissals are also taking longer. The court decides in these cases whether people will actually lose their jobs. It said swift decisions were especially important during difficult labour-market and economic conditions, as lengthy proceedings can cause financial and psychological strain and make it harder to return to stable employment.

The court currently has 35 judges and said it needed at least nine more to handle the large number of cases. It described swift proceedings as a matter of the rule of law and social peace.

Court president Wolfgang Schuster-Kramer was due to provide details about the staff shortage and its consequences at a media briefing on Tuesday morning.