“The relevant provisions of the decrees are to be classified as ordinances,” the VfGH announced on Wednesday. As such, according to the Constitutional Court, they should have been announced in the Federal Law Gazette.
As soon as the cancellation has been announced, asylum seekers can be employed in all areas, not only as harvest workers and seasonal workers, provided all other conditions are met. The turquoise-green government and labor minister Martin Kocher (VP) could now try to impose new restrictions in the form of a regulation.
Income from Bartenstein and Hartinger-Klein
The 2018 decree – in conjunction with the one from 2004 – stipulated that asylum seekers may only be granted temporary employment as seasonal workers or harvest workers. The decree from 2004 came from the then Labor Minister Martin Bartenstein (VP) and stated that asylum seekers may only be used as harvest workers or seasonal workers. The one from 2018 is from the then Labor Minister Beate Hartinger-Klein (FP) and has removed asylum seekers’ access to apprenticeships.
Due to a complaint by a plumber, the Constitutional Court decided in the March session to initiate an ex officio review procedure for the 2018 and 2004 decrees. The proceedings have confirmed that “these proceeds are not exhausted in mere information about the current legal situation, but also contain binding (restrictive) regulations on the granting of employment permits for asylum seekers,” declared the Constitutional Court.
In the ongoing proceedings on the plumber’s complaint, the Constitutional Court also raised concerns about the constitutionality of a provision of the Aliens Employment Act (AuslBG). The VfGH has therefore initiated a legal review procedure ex officio. The subject of this procedure is the regulation of 4 para. 3 no. 1 AuslBG. According to this, employment permits can only be issued if the general requirements are met “if the regional advisory board unanimously approves the issue”. The Constitutional Court is provisionally of the opinion that this construction might contradict the constitutional principles of the Federal Constitution.
