Styria staff representatives reject planned daily allowance cuts

Public-sector staff representatives in Styria have unanimously opposed a proposed change to employment rules that would remove a daily allowance for state employees, ORF reported.

The amendment is currently under review. Under the existing rules, employees are entitled to 2.20 euros per hour, up to 26.20 euros a day, when they leave their place of work for more than three hours on the authority’s instructions.

Employees who mainly work in the field could lose several hundred euros a month, according to a staff member. The affected services include social services, environmental monitoring, environmental and chemical emergency response, and road maintenance.

Georg Pessler, head of the staff representatives, said some employees could lose 200 euros or more each month. He said lump-sum payments linked to street-cleaning work would also be discontinued.

Pessler said the allowance would be removed without replacement and without agreement with staff representatives. The state government has instructed its personnel department to draw up a plan with the representatives to prevent hardship. They will take part in the talks, but their goal is to stop the cut altogether.