Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1995, published 82nd ILC session (1995)

Labour Clauses (Public Contracts) Convention, 1949 (No. 94) - Austria (Ratification: 1951)

1. Further to its previous observation, regarding the comments made by the Austrian Congress of Chambers of Labour, the Committee notes the information supplied by the Government which refers to two cases (both concerning Lower Austria Autobahn Agency in 1992), in which point 4.50 of the rules concerning the adjudications for the order of public workers was applied: in the first case, the lowest bidding company, which had been suspected and partially convicted of the violation of some labour laws, was dropped pursuant to the said provision; in the second case, the offer of a consortium including the same company was similarly dropped.

2. The Committee also notes the new Federal Act on the Award of Contracts (B Verg G) BGBI No. 462/1993. The Act provides in section 22 paragraphs 9 and 10 that, in respect of public contract-placing authorities as defined under its section 6, the tender documents must include provisions concerning compliance with the obligations arising out of ILO Conventions Nos. 94, 95 and 98 and that the tenderer must, in making the bid, commit himself to observing those provisions in the implementation of the contract. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the above-mentioned rules concerning the adjudications and other statutes that it has so far noted as regards the application of this Convention are still in force under the new Federal Act and, if not, to provide the new texts that replace them. It also asks the Government to continue to supply information on the enactment of similar acts by Laender authorities.

3. The Committee notes that the Government's report also includes the comments of the Federal Chamber of Labour, which, while welcoming the enactment of the new Act, points out that: (i) the criteria established for employer conduct in connection with the award of public contracts are too narrow (only illegal employment of foreigners, non-payment of taxes and other levies and failure to meet levels of pay set out in collective agreements are penalized, but not the violation of other labour law provisions, such as the right to vacation); and (ii) mandatory penalties are laid down only for repeated violations of regulations governing the employment of foreigners, while for the other offences, the contract-placing authorities are granted a broad discretion on the award of contracts. The Committee asks the Government to provide its observations in respect of these points, as well as information on the application in practice of the new Act.